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Israel’s absence at the session was lamented by US diplomat Walter Miller. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of life today. We urge those involved to take steps to lower tensions and reduce the risk of new clashes,” he said, as cited by Reuters.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) cracked down hard on the crowds amassing in the area, using drones to dispense tear gas at protesters. Over 100 snipers were on standby, authorized to use live ammunition in case someone ventured to cross into Israeli-occupied territories.
Some 1,416 people were injured in the altercation and at least 16 were killed, according to figures provided by the Gaza Health Ministry. Roughly half of the injuries were inflicted by live fire, the ministry said, while many protesters were also targeted by tear gas and rubber bullets.
The planned six-week-long ‘Great Return’ protests, calling for the right for Palestinian refugees to return to the territories now occupied by Israel, are expected to reach their climax on May 15, with a march to break through the heavily guarded border, according to Hamas.
Senior government MPs warn Australia will lose face on the world stage if it exits the Paris climate treaty, amid an unyielding push by ultra-conservatives to maintain internal discord over climate and energy policy.
It comes as Labor-held states and territories express dismay in the appointment of anti-wind farm campaigner Angus Taylor as Energy Minister, and say the fate of the Coalition’s National Energy Guarantee is bleak.
Right-wing Coalition backbenchers have called for Australia to withdraw from the Paris agreement to cut global emissions. However Prime Minister Scott Morrison is reportedly resisting such a move, which would threaten a potential free trade deal with Europe and may cost Liberal votes in metropolitan seats.
In her last press conference as foreign minister on Tuesday, former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop said Australia has “a very high standing as a nation that keeps its commitments” and should not quit the Paris deal.
Ms Bishop said the government in 2015 unanimously endorsed Australia’s contribution to the international agreement.
“When we sign a treaty, partners should be able to rely upon us,” she said.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan, a conservative Nationals senator who has described himself as “unashamedly pro-coal”, also called for Australia to stick with the landmark accord.
"I think we should meet our commitments ... we are well regarded around the world [as a nation whose] word is our bond and if you go back on your word that has consequences,” he said.
Internal dissent from far right MPs over climate and energy policy forced former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to drop emissions reduction from his signature National Energy Guarantee, and instead pledge to focus on lowering electricity prices and securing reliable supplies. The concession was not enough to placate his opponents and internal divisions over the policy ultimately triggered last week’s leadership spill.
Conservative MP Michael Sukkar, a key Dutton backer who has been banished to the backbench, on Tuesday refused to say whether Australia should remain in the Paris deal.
But he suggested conservative MPs would continue to agitate over energy policy under Mr Morrison’s leadership.
“[Mr Taylor is] a very close friend of mine and I’ll, in an appropriate way as a backbencher, make my views clear to him,” he said.
Mr Morrison has not indicated whether his government will seek to revive the beleaguered National Energy Guarantee, which needs agreement from the states. Mr Taylor was unavailable for comment.
But during a meeting of his new-look cabinet on Monday, Mr Morrison suggested the policy could be revamped.
"There will be continuity in our policy in this area, but there will also be new ideas in this area, to ensure that we get those prices down," Mr Morrison said.
Labor climate change and energy spokesman Mark Butler condemned Mr Taylor’s appointment, describing the prominent wind farm critic and Rhodes scholar as an “anti-renewable energy ideologue” who “signals a return to hard-right ideology on energy policy by the government”.
Victorian Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio told Fairfax Media that Mr Taylor’s “record of denying the science of climate change is a low starting point for an energy minister”.
ACT Climate Change Minister Shane Rattenbury said Mr Taylor’s appointment was “cause for concern” because he was one of Australia’s most prominent anti-wind campaigners and his promotion had been lauded by pro-coal government forces.
Mr Rattenbury said the government’s backflip on the emissions component of the energy plan meant government had “killed their own policy”.
While a future iteration of the plan might include reliability measures, legislation currently out for consultation would presumably need to be redrafted to remove emissions reduction components and “it remains to be seen how this will be done, and if it will work,” he said.
Webmasters can use Google’s self-serve code generator to customize the size and language of the button, along with a few other advanced options.
There’s more about the advanced options here, and be sure to read the FAQs at the bottom where you’ll learn, among other things, that Google recommends using the +1 button in conjunction with the “rel=canonical” tag.
Postscript, 12:00 pm PST: If you’re trying to install the button on your site, it may only show up if you and your visitors are logged in to your Google accounts. Google tells us this is temporary and due to the fact that the button is still being rolled out. In a “matter of hours,” the buttons should be visible to all, whether logged in or not.
The button looks and acts, of course, much like the existing social buttons that you see regularly on all kinds of websites — but make no mistake that this is Google’s most direct attempt yet to compete with Facebook’s nearly ubiquitous “Like” button, which has practically become the default way we share content online. Google has repeatedly said that it would like access to Facebook’s data to improve search results, but the two sides have been unable to work out anything along those lines.
But there’s no mention on any of Google’s blog posts about this feature, and my own Webmaster Tools account has nothing new related to +1.
Postscript: For more on +1 analytics, see my article: Google +1 Analytics Coming Soon; Here’s What To Expect.
Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers. For example, a movie review from an expert is useful, but a movie review from a friend who shares your tastes can be even better. Because of this, +1’s from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1’s, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.
Once you add the button, Google may crawl or recrawl the page, and store the page title and other content, in response to a +1 button impression or click.
Where Does +1 Activity Show Up Online?
The +1 activity of your network (as Google defines it) shows up visually in Google’s search results and that will now include when your network clicks on the new +1 button on websites, not just when they “+1” a Google search result.
If you allow it in your Google Account settings, your +1 activity may also show up on websites that use the +1 button — very similar to how you see messaging on web pages that “John Doe liked this on Facebook.” This Google Account page shows how it looks and lets you choose to share your +1 activity or not.
Your +1 activity — both in Google’s search results and on websites using the new button — will also show up on your Google profile if you choose to allow it.
We’ll be testing and using the +1 button ourselves, and asking Google questions about it — and the analytics feature — so stay tuned for more in the near future.
This past weekend Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and The Bronx Tourism Council hosted it’s annual Bronx Ball, the premier event of Bronx Week and the official celebration of this year’s inductees to the Bronx Walk of Fame.
This year’s honorees included Hip-Hop pioneer Funkmaster Flex, Latin music superstar Prince Royce, Orange is the New Black star Selenis Leyva and medical inventor Dr. Manny Villafaña.
The Source salutes these hometown heroes.
Left to Right: Selenis Levya (Orange is the New Black), Dr. Manny Villafaña, Ruben Diaz Jr. (Bronx Borough President), Funkmaster Flex, Prince Royce.
Funkmaster Flex during his induction speech.
Selenis Revya on the Red Carpet.
Funkmaster Flex and Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr.
Flex and his family on the red carpet.
Action from Belper's home defeat by Gresley. Picture by Tim Harrison.
New Belper Town boss Aaron Webster has told his players to be men and not feel sorry for themselves after an awful Bank Holiday weekend.
Webster, appointed less than a month ago, admitted that the 8-1 thrashing at Lincoln United on Saturday, followed by a 2-0 home loss to Gresley on Monday, were the sort of displays that could cost a manager his job if had been at the club longer.
Now he is calling on his squad to put things right at home to strugglers Market Drayton Town this Saturday while scouring the market for new faces to improve things.
“It was an awful weekend,” admitted Webster. “There were not many positives to take from those two games, but one positive was the two performances have told me a big story on the team and certain individuals.
“That’s something for me to look at going forward.
“Luckily there is kind of no pressure on me at the moment as those two games were probably sackable.
“They were the sort of performances that get managers the sack – that’s probably another positive as I am only four weeks into the job and it’s not necessarily my team.
“But there are going to have to be changes if performances like that carry on.
“We probably have guys who are feeling a bit sorry for themselves because of the results. But there’s no time for that as games just pass you by and results go against you. We can’t dwell on what has gone.
He added: “When I first came in I told them all everyone started with a clean slate and everyone has a chance to impress. They weren’t doing too badly under the caretaker.
“I just wanted everyone to start afresh, have a nice buzz, and have a good feel around the place with a new manager.
“But Christmas games came thick and fast with so many games in not many days and it probably hasn’t helped with the size of the squad.
“Also we are only training once a week and I am trying to get mine and Lee’s (assistant Williamson) points across how we want to do things.
There could be a new faces by the weekend.
“I have made phone calls trying to get one or two in,” he said.
“If it doesn’t happen we will have to go with the same squad and shuffle it round a bit.
“They’ll have had a few days rest and another training session on Thursday night.
“We had Monday’s game two days later to get the 8-1 defeat out of our systems and redeem ourselves – but it just didn’t happen.
“You can’t start games like that and expect to still be in the game when it comes to the second half.
“It’s something I keep emphasising – starting the games quickly and aggressively which sets the tone. But we’ve not done it in any of the last three games.
“The game can be lost by half-time and on Monday that was the case.
“In the first half there were fewer options when we were on the ball. We showed a lack of responsibility and bravery. It was fear and nerves. We looked scared.
Webster was shocked by the size of the defeat at Lincoln in a game in which the Nailers even went ahead.
He said: “I am still trying to figure where that came from.
“It was unbelievable really. I don’t think I’ve been involved in an 8-1 game since I played kids football.
“It looked like men versus boys. If only two or three are listening to the instructions I gave to the players before the game and the other seven or eight aren’t then we’re going to have no chance getting any form of result.
He added: “We don’t seem to have an identity to the team at the moment – you can’t say we are a long ball, passing or counter-attacking team.
On next opponents Market Drayton, Webster said: “They are not in the greatest run of form, so it could be another topsy-turvy game if we play like we have done in the last two games. Anything could happen after those.
“We are too hit and miss and that’s probably why Belper are where they are in the table.
“They have the potential to be a lot higher but they are not because you never know which Belper is going to turn up.
“As a manager and a coach, my team can’t be like that. They have to be very consistent, hard to beat, and looking to create chances to score.
“In the long term that’s what we are going to be. At the minute it’s just not happening.
“It’s just so disappointing after we were so solid at Sheffield. We looked good on the break and soaked up a lot of pressure – it was a good away performance.
Posted on Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 9:52 a.m.
Pittsfield Township firefighter John Decaro tapes off a perimeter around the entrance of Kroger, located off Carpenter Road at Packard, after a gas leak was reported and the store was evacuated on Monday morning.
The Kroger grocery store on Carpenter Road in Pittsfield Township reopened around 11:30 Monday morning after a strong smell of gas prompted an evacuation earlier in the day.
Fire Chief Sean Gleason said people noticed a strong odor of gas inside and outside the store about 9:30 am. Monday. DTE Energy crews responded, shut off all the gas appliances and checked for a gas leak but found no problems, he said.
The gas smell dissipated quickly and no other businesses had to be evacuated, Gleason said. DTE crews were still at the store at 11:40 a.m.
Roger Quinn was shopping at the store near the intersection at Carpenter and Packard roads when the order to evacuate was made. The gas odor was strong, he said.
Gleason said such an odor can occur with no evidence of a problem. "Sometimes you just get a buildup of gas," he said.
Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 9:20 p.m.
I reported a gas leak when I was walking with a friend in the Pittsfield Blvd area some twelve years ago. The fire Dept told me that the gas lines were so old they were leaking underground. He also showed me the brown grass where the gas was coming up, and it basically ran down next to the sidewalk all the way down. He said it looks like it has been leaking for sometime now. Now that strip mall where Kroger is now has been there for a long time too, I bet it is coming from under ground. A very expensive fix, but I'm sure insurance will cover it. It's better then a bunch of law suits.
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 4:43 p.m.
just wondering: cannot fire marshals compel gas companies and/or property owners to fix such leaks? What you describe is a very dangerous condition. And - do you know how quickly the original leak you mention was fixed?
Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 8:31 p.m.
this is not good at all.i'll bet the people had a hissy fit.
Tue, Mar 6, 2012 : 7:54 p.m.
Actually they all went outside to have a smoking fit.
Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 8:21 p.m.
"Gleason said such an odor can occur with no evidence of a problem. "Sometimes you just get a buildup of gas," he said.' how does that happen? The natural gas we smell is supposed to be in a closed system isn't it? Its contained in pipes to the point of use. a stove, furnace etc. How does it "build up" outside that closed system?
Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 9:22 p.m.
Mon, Mar 5, 2012 : 6:47 p.m.
Gleason said such an odor can occur with no evidence of a problem. "Sometimes you just get a buildup of gas," he said." So...Kroger farted?
O so that is what that smell was. I thought I stepped in something.