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“The Security Council is following closely the security and humanitarian situation in the Sahel region, and has received regular briefings on these issues.
“The Security Council expresses its serious concern about the insecurity and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Sahel region, which is further complicated by the presence of armed groups and terrorist groups, and their activities, as well as by the proliferation of weapons from within and outside the region, that threaten peace, security and stability of regional States. The Security Council calls for national authorities, and international, regional and subregional organizations, to take urgent steps to further their concerted efforts to address these challenges in an effective and appropriate manner.
“The Security Council strongly condemns the forcible seizure of power from the democratically elected Government of Mali by some elements of the Malian armed forces, and in this regard recalls its press statement of 22 March 2012. The Security Council condemns the acts initiated and carried out by mutinous troops against the democratically elected Government and demands they cease all violence and return to their barracks. The Security Council calls for the restoration of constitutional order and the holding of elections as previously scheduled.
“The Security Council condemns the attacks initiated and carried out by rebel groups against Malian Government forces and calls on the rebels to cease all violence and to seek a peaceful solution through appropriate political dialogue.
“The Security Council emphasizes the need to uphold and respect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Mali.
“The Security Council expresses its concern over the fragile security and humanitarian situation in the region, and notes that it has been exacerbated by drought, food shortages and the return of thousands of returnees following the Libyan crisis and other crises in the region.
“The Security Council was also informed that millions of people in the Sahel region are suffering from that crisis, forcing thousands to migrate to less affected neighbouring countries.
“The Security Council commends the joint efforts made by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other agencies of the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance and to draw international attention to the scale of the problem in the Sahel region. The Security Council was informed of the proposal to appoint a Senior Regional Humanitarian Coordinator.
Gamergate targets Gawker: Online misogyny levels up.
Gamergaters have nothing but time and nothing to lose.
Gamergate, a diffuse but relentless online anti-feminist movement aimed at drubbing feminist women out of game development and criticism, continues to expand the scope of its attacks. First it started as a traditional anti-feminist campaign, targeting individual women in hopes that they’d quit the industry rather than suffer any longer. When that didn’t work, they moved into targeting advertisers of websites that hire feminist women. They were sadly successful when Intel pulled its advertising from a website Gamasutra, which had offended the Gamergaters by running a piece that argued video games should be for everyone instead of just for angry white guys. Now the circle of victims has expanded even beyond just the gaming press, as the website Gawker is being threatened with the loss of its Mercedes advertising after Mercedes got a deluge of emails from Gamergaters who take offense at the multiple pieces Gawker and its sister sites have run criticizing Gamergate.
Sure, Gamergaters inevitably claim some moral high ground in attacking Gawker. The B.S. excuse this time is to pretend that writer Sam Biddle was dead serious when he tweeted something that is an obvious joke. At this point, no one in the media is bamboozled by the lies and obfuscations of Gamergaters, who, like the Know-Nothings of 19th century, prefer to play dumb to outsiders about their real goals. That’s what makes it so confusing to see companies like Mercedes, Intel, and Adobe give any credence to a bunch of squalling from an online army of mostly teenage boys and social maladepts who are worried that girls are going to ruin the experience of playing Call of Duty. These people don’t speak for the majority of anyone-—not gamers, not computer users, and certainly not Mercedes buyers-—so why so much fear?
The likely truth is they don’t want the hassle. Most of these big corporations desperately want to be perceived as floating above the ugly fray of politics. Intel pulled its advertising from Gamasutra and then issued a mealy-mouthed apology after the fact, saying, “Our action inadvertently created a perception that we are somehow taking sides in an increasingly bitter debate in the gaming community.” Adobe pulled a similar stunt, rushing to agree with Gamergate attacks on Gawker while claiming some kind of general anti-bullying stance. It’s like watching a kid fight back against a bully who is torturing him and have the teacher put them both in detention. Bullies like those of Gamergate know how to exploit the desire not to “take sides” in order to force people to take the bully’s side against the victim.
Gamergate doesn’t have good arguments, which is why they dissemble and hand-wave rather than engaging in honest debate about the role of women in gaming. But the power they do have is what a colleague of mine characterized as “asymmetrical warfare”: Gamergaters, particularly since they recruit so heavily amongst teenagers and young men, have nothing but time and nothing to lose, making it relatively easy for them to target advertisers with these campaigns.
Many feminist writers know this phenomenon very well, having been targeted for over a decade now by an online guerrilla campaign of “men’s rights activists” and other anti-feminists who dogpile individual women with harassment in hopes of driving them to quit writing. But this kind of behavior was the online equivalent of street harassment, conducted on Twitter and in blog comments and meant to be seen only by the target herself and maybe an audience of your bros, but not really a public statement.
The relative invisibility allowed the harassers to claim the victims are exaggerating the extent of the abuse, but it also limited the actual damage the harassment could do. Victims could turn off Twitter mentions, refuse to read the comments, or get rid of comments altogether. They could decide that they won’t be silenced by this harassment, because what they have to say matters more to them than the emotional price that’s extracted from them for saying it.
Which is why Gamergate is so worrisome, because it represents a shift away from targeting individual women and towards targeting notoriously skittish advertisers. It does mean it will be harder for the harassers to deny that they’re actively working to silence feminists online, but the tradeoff is, as we’ve seen with Intel and possibly Mercedes, it might just work. The recent surge in positive attention and Beyoncé endorsements for feminism owes a lot to the relative freedom online media provides women who write about women’s issues, so it’s no wonder those who want to shut it all down are getting more aggressive. Whether or not it works, however, remains to be seen.
It was barely 8 a.m. Saturday when Shane Victorino started heckling Chris Coste.
"Answer your phone," Victorino hollered at Coste.
Coste, filling out some paperwork at a table inside the Phillies' clubhouse at Bright House Field, hardly picked up his head to acknowledge the always-energetic Victorino, who had called Coste at 11:30 the night before.
Victorino walked out of the room only to return a few moments later, still taunting his teammate.
"Don't worry, Shane," Coste finally said. "We'll hug it out later."
The hug would have to make up for Coste being asleep when Victorino called 8 Å hours earlier.
"I happened to wake up at 12:30 [a.m.] and noticed my phone was blinking, that I had missed a call from Shane," Coste said. "But he didn't leave a message. He's too lazy.
"But Shane always calls when there's some sort of news, so I figured something was up."
Coste was right. That something was him officially retaining his job as the team's backup catcher after the club traded Ronny Paulino to the San Francisco Giants in return for left-handed reliever Jack Taschner late Friday night (the Giants then traded Paulino to the Marlins on Saturday).
"We knew a couple days ago this was a possibility, so I wasn't 100 percent shocked," Coste said. "But you know things can change. There's still a week left. But it definitely feels good. It kind of makes that 0-for-3, two-strikeout day [on Friday] not seem so bad."
Had the Phillies chosen Paulino over Coste, who the Phillies signed as a minor-league free agent in October 2004, Coste likely would have been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley or traded away.
"I'm just happy to still be with the Phillies," Coste said. "To be on a different team would be difficult the first few months. And it would be really hard to go to Triple-A after being here."
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Coste had an advantage over Paulino because Coste knows the pitchers, their stuff and their quirks.
"I think learning a new staff was tough on him," Manuel said.
Coste agrees that having a history with the pitchers made his job easier.
"That's probably the toughest part about catching," he said. "Sometimes you get lucky and get a Brett Myers and you know that when he puts his glove up it's going to be around the area and he can be easy to catch physically. Then you get guys like Clay Condrey, who's got nasty moving stuff in both directions and if you don't know that, it can be tough. And also knowing their minds and what they can throw in certain situations can be tough."
Although Coste said he's felt "great" behind the plate, when it comes to standing at the plate, he's got a ways to go. He's hitting just 3-for-22 (.136) this spring. He has seven more games to get settled in before the season opener April 5 against Atlanta.
"I'd like to see him get more at-bats," Manuel said.
Whether he gets more at-bats this spring is yet to be seen. But one thing is for sure: Coste, a fan favorite in Philadelphia, will be hearing cheers loud and clear again.
I would like to commend The Bulletin for publishing the "Facts About the Bible" insert with the advice to children to save it for their Sunday School Scrapbook. I was especially interested in the insert of Wednesday. Jan. 16 titled "High Places."
It notes that in Biblical days cities were built on hills and fortified with high walls making "it possible for the inhabitants to live a more protected life from the marauding hordes of natural enemies."
It is interesting to read that the first thing that Nehemiah did when he returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile, was to rebuild the wall and gates of the city for the protection of the surviving Hebrews.
It seems that today we are arguing over something that was well settled at least 2,500 years ago.
Spring is here, and with the new season comes a heavy sprinkling of new films and TV shows to Netflix.
Movies being added to the streaming service in April include dramas The Hateful Eight: Extended Edition, The Imitation Game, All the President's Men and American Honey, along with Pineapple Express, Freddy vs. Jason, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Spy Kids.
Netflix original film premieres include the comedy Someone Great, starring Gina Rodriguez and Lakeith Stanfield (bowing April 19); Brie Larson's directorial debut Unicorn Store (April 5); Noah Centineo's latest rom-com The Perfect Date; and the Stanley Tucci-Kiernan Shipka horror-thriller The Silence (April 12). Kevin Hart: Irresponsible and Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward will become the latest additions to the streamer's growing lineup of comedy specials.
Special, a series about a young gay man with cerebral palsy that was executive produced by The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, and the Andy Samberg-produced sketch show I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson are among the new original series arriving on Netflix in April. Also debuting next month are Bear Grylls' interactive adventure You vs. Wild, the Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin-led family sitcom No Good Nick and Street Food, a new series from the creators of Chef's Table.
Meanwhile, the new month brings new seasons of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. And The CW's supernatural drama Legacies and the seventh season of Zooey Deschanel's Fox comedy New Girl will become available for streaming next month.
Missed what came to Netflix last month? Check out the March additions here.
Courtesy of New Romantic Inc.
The Trump administration is set to roll back the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's efforts to slow global warming: the Clean Power Plan that restricts greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
A plan to be announced in coming days would give states broad authority to determine how to restrict carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, according to a summary of the plan and several people familiar with the full proposal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to discuss the plan publicly.
The plan by the Environmental Protection Agency also would let states relax pollution rules for power plants that need upgrades. That would reverse an Obama-era push to shift away from coal and toward less-polluting energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar power.
Combined with a planned rollback of car-mileage standards, the plan represents a significant retreat from Obama-era efforts to fight climate change. President Donald Trump has already vowed to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement as he pushes to revive the coal industry.
Trump also has directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take steps to bolster struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants to keep them open, warning that impending retirements of "fuel-secure" power plants that rely on coal and nuclear power are harming the nation's power grid and reducing its resilience.
Schools and workplaces across the country gathered on Thursday to raise the country’s flag to celebrate the third Flag Day and 12 years since the accession of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, invited all community, schools and government entities to raise the UAE Flag at the same time on Thursday at 11:00 noon to reaffirm allegiance to the UAE flag, which is a symbol of the country's unity and greatness and represents our aspirations for a better future for the people of the UAE.
In Abu Dhabi, H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), attended the flag-hoisting ceremony at Zayed II School.
''On this bright historic day, hearts of all Emiratis across the country gather under the national flag, the symbol of our unity, progress and prosperity and their eyes look at the President whose prudent policy and farsighted vision make the flag flutter higher and higher, national unity stronger and people more united,'' Sheikh Hazza said while addressing the event which was attended by top ADEC officials.
''The UAE flag will always remain flying high under the leadership of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. We stand ready to sacrifice our lives for the sake of keeping the UAE flag flutter at lofty height,'' Sheikh Hazza added.
H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, hoisted the UAE flag in the yard of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi at 12:00 pm. Later, the UAE national Anthem was played.
Sheikh Hamed expressed his pride at the development accomplished by the UAE under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the prestigious stature that supported pillars of the union and enabled the country to continue the march of progress and welfare.
"This day is a precious occasion for us which coincides with the accession of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa to presidency, and reflects the continuous march of development established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who laid the foundation stone of the strong union," he said.
Sheikh Hamed added that hoisting the flag has a profound symbol in the hearts of UAE citizens and translates love, loyalty, and belonging to the homeland and the wise leadership that instilled dedication to work and excellence values inside our spirits, which enabled the country to occupy high and prestigious stature among the world's countries.
In Dubai, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of the Office of His Highness the Ruler of Dubai, hoisted on Thursday the UAE Flag at the Ruler's Court in the presence of a number of officials and employees to celebrate the Flag Day.
The audience expressed their joy on this occasion praying to Allah Almighty to bless the UAE and its leadership.
Al Shaibani said in a statement on the occasion "the UAE people are proud about their flag, which is the symbol of national unity and the drive to continue the efforts to achieve a better future for the people of this beloved country."
He congratulated President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Members of Supreme Council, Their Highnesses, Rulers of Emirates, on the occasion.
"The celebration of Flag Day is the consolidation of national unity values and rallying of all segments of society to uphold the value of Union reflected in the flag of the federal state, which is a symbol of the identity," Al Shaibani said.
President Donald Trump spoke briefly to reporters after the news broke of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, saying that the search for his replacement will “begin immediately” and that he will choose someone from the “list of 25 people” that he used to pick Justice Neil Gorsuch. “Hopefully we will pick someone who is just as outstanding,” Trump said, according to the White House pool report. Trump also said Kennedy “displayed great vision” and “tremendous heart.” Kennedy was often seen as a swing vote, and his departure will allow Trump to solidify a conservative majority on the court—which could shape U.S. law for years to come. The 81-year-old justice is retiring after 30 years on the bench.
Steve and Crystal Miller first acquired three assisted living facilities in Milwaukee County. Within a couple of years, the two became known in the industry for their ability to solve problems and manage turnarounds. Since that time, Frontida has added new facilities in Kenosha, Caledonia, Milwaukee, New Berlin and Fond du Lac, for a total of eight facilities.
Five of the eight specialize in care for older adults with mental illness.
According to Miller, they surrounded themselves with capable people and continued to reiterate the vision they had for the company.
For years North Korea lobbed bizarre, belligerent attacks at the United States as it continued advancing its nuclear program, crescendoing with Kim Jong-un claiming in a speech on January 1 that his nukes are capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. President Trump responded by bragging about the size of his “nuclear button,” raising fears that 2018 might see a nuclear war started on Twitter.
In the same speech, Kim suddenly and inexplicably extended an olive branch to South Korea, expressing hopes for a “peaceful resolution” to their decades-old conflict. This was followed by a series of diplomatic overtures surrounding the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and Trump eagerly accepting an invitation to meet Kim.
The situation progressed with astonishing speed and ease. Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in and they announced their “common goal” of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Three Americans held in North Korea were released. June 12 was set as the date for the historic Trump-Kim summit. Trump acknowledged that “everyone” (or at least a handful of Republicans) thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his pending diplomatic achievement.
Then this week North Korea started acting like the nation we knew five months ago. The North announced it was suspending talks with South Korea set for Wednesday, calling a U.S.-South Korea air force drill a “provocation,” and claiming, as it has many times in the past, that the military exercises present a threat to its sovereignty. Hours later, Pyongyang said it may call off Kim’s summit with Trump as well — if the U.S. remains focused on its demands for denuclearization.
“If the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the DPRK-U.S. summit,” said Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan in a statement published by the North’s state-run media.
Casual observers of foreign policy should not be shocked that North Korea, which was threatening to nuke the U.S. less than six months ago, would make another dramatic reversal. That’s especially true if you know a bit about the history of efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
North Korea has walked from three U.S. attempts to halt nuclear their nuclear weapons program.
Even armed with some historical knowledge, however, it’s hard to say how serious Kim is about his threat to call off the summit, or exactly what he’s trying to achieve. North Korea has a history of abruptly canceling or postponing meetings with other nations, but most experts say it’s unlikely that he’s actually thinking of abandoning talks with Trump. While Kim Kye-gwan’s statement is a departure from the conciliatory language Pyongyang has offered in the past few weeks, the actual threat is mild, and U.S. officials said they’re proceeding as if the summit is still on.
North Korea may also have some more concrete goals, like sidelining John Bolton. Trump’s new national security adviser recently floated the idea of using the “Libya model” to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Bolton was was undersecretary of state for arms control in 2004 when Muammar Gaddafi gave up Libya’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief — and North Korea said it’s well aware that several years later, the U.S. turned on Gaddafi and he was killed by rebel fighters.
Kim Kye-gwan said North Koreans “do not hide our feeling of repugnance” toward Bolton, and called out his Libya remarks. “It is essentially a manifestation of awfully sinister move to impose on our dignified state the destiny of Libya or Iraq which had been collapsed due to yielding the whole of their countries to big powers,” he said.
Though Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has now met with Kim twice, is not mentioned by name, the statement also rejects his recent suggestion that in return for dismantling its nuclear program, North Korea will get business opportunities with American corporations — not aid.
Various Trump aides, including Bolton and Pompeo, have repeatedly said that that what they want from the summit is “complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.” Of course, Pyongyang would love it if they could move the goal posts before the meeting, making the U.S. back off on this demand.
They may be hoping that since Trump prematurely painted himself as the president who resolved the North Korea situation, he’s so desperate for a successful summit that he’ll give up on full denuclearization. It wouldn’t make any sense for Trump to cave over this relatively mild threat, but maybe North Korea willl luck out again. They probably didn’t expect Trump to agree to their summit offer in the first place.
NEESON: In the cosmopolitan city of Jerusalem, with its massive temple, the holiest site on earth for Jews and its regal priestly caste, would many have even noticed Jesus, the wandering rabbi from the Galilee? PROF. BART EHRMAN, UNIV. OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL: It's a good question whether Jews in Jerusalem at the time would have even known about the sect of Jewish Christians, people who believed that Jesus was the messiah.
NEESON: Then on the Jewish feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus died, the sign came and, suddenly, from heaven, there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind. And it filled the entire house where they were sitting, divided tongues, as of fire appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. LEVINE: So that Jews who were in Jerusalem, be they from Egypt or Syrene or Greece or even Rome, would be able to understand this new proclamation in their own dialect.
And they get two messengers who could not be more different, Peter, the simple fisherman from Galilee, who was Jesus' chief apostle, and Paul, a sophisticated Pharisee. Together, they will create a religion that would change the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEESON: Just a few years after Jesus was killed, the Book of Acts tells us, a devout Jew named Stephen stood on the steps of the temple in Jerusalem, the holiest spot in all of Judaism, and directly challenged the religious establishment.
COSTELLO: Hello, I'm Carol Costello in New York. CNN PRESENTS: After Jesus will continue in just a moment. But first, a quick check of the day's top stories.
The search for two missing climbers on Oregon's Mt. Hood has been suspended again because of bad weather. But officials have given up hope of finding either Brian Hall or Jerry Cooke alive. An autopsy release late today indicates a third climber in the party, Kelly James, had been dead for several days before his body was found last Sunday. James died of hypothermia.
A major winter storm hit Denver, Colorado, during this morning's rush hour. Highways slowed to a crawl, then closed down completely. Denver's airport has closed and hundreds of flights have been canceled, stranding even more travelers. Up to two feet of snow expected to pile up in Denver before the storm moves into the Plains. Blizzard warnings are up for eastern Colorado and adjoining sections on Nebraska and Kansas.
And literally thousands of one-armed bandits are coming to the city of brotherly love. Pennsylvania officials today approved five licenses for stand-alone slot machine parlors. Two of them will be in Philadelphia. Now that means it will become the nation's biggest city with casinos. The state's gaming board rejected Donald Trump's bid for a slots parlor. It also turned down plans to build them near the historic Gettysburg battlefield and next to Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena.
Quick break, we'll have more news at the top of the hour, and then it's back to CNN PRESENTS: After Jesus.
FREUND: Every single Jew had an obligation to make three pilgrimages a year to the temple in Jerusalem and people who lived in Judea felt that obligation very seriously. The idea of pilgrimage was central to a Jew's identity.
NEESON: The temple's majesty and its importance to the Jews made it the perfect target for the Romans to make clear exactly who was king of the Jews -- Rome.
EHRMAN: When this happened, the Jewish insurgency within the walls then took a suicide pact. They killed one another until the last ones then killed themselves. And so when the Romans finally arrived at the fortress, in fact, all they found were dead bodies.
Surprisingly, Vespasian agreed and only a year later, in 70 A.D., the rabbi's academy represented Judaism's last hope.
FREUND: And he brought these scholars together in Yavneh and he built, for the first time, what would become the basis for a new type of Judaism that would then run parallel with the beginnings of Christianity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Hello. I'm Carol Costello in New York.
NEESON: And while the New Testament mention the idea of a church, using the Greek word "ecclesia," early Christians did didn't worship in magnificence cathedrals. AMY-JILL LEVINE, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL: Ecclesia simply means an assembly. Early Christians, early followers of Jesus would have met in private homes. They might have met in public buildings.
NEESON: But who presided over these rituals was then an open question.

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