Новости за 31.07.2015

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe will seek the extradition of an American dentist who killed a lion that was lured out of a national park and caused international outrage, a Cabinet minister said Friday. In the Zimbabwean government’s first official comment on the killing of Cecil the lion, the environment, water and climate minister lashed out at Walter James Palmer, accusing him even of trying to hurt Zimbabwe’s image. “Unfortunately, it was too late to apprehend the... Читать дальше...

DUMA, West Bank — Suspected Jewish assailants set fire to a West Bank home on Friday and burned a sleeping Palestinian toddler to death in an attack that drew Palestinian rage and widespread Israeli condemnation. The attack, which threatens to set off another violent escalation, shines a light on the growing lawlessness of extremist Jewish settlers that Israel is either unable or unwilling to contain. The extremists have for years staged attacks against Palestinian property, as well as mosques... Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON — After billions of dollars spent and more than 10,000 extremist fighters killed, the Islamic State group is fundamentally no weaker than it was when the U.S.-led bombing campaign began a year ago, American intelligence agencies have concluded. U.S. military commanders on the ground aren’t disputing the assessment, but they point to an upcoming effort to clear the important Sunni city of Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, as a crucial milestone. The battle for Ramadi... Читать дальше...

OTTAWA, Ill. — Traveling at speeds of up to 240 mph, 164 skydivers flying head-down built the largest ever vertical skydiving formation Friday over central Illinois, smashing the previous record. It took the international team 13 attempts to beat the 2012 mark set by 138 skydivers. The formation, resembling a giant flower, floated above Skydive Chicago in Ottawa for a matter of seconds before the fliers broke away, deployed their parachutes, and whooped and hollered their way to the ground to the jubilation of spectators. Читать дальше...

LONDON — An experimental Ebola vaccine tested on thousands of people in Guinea seems to work and might help shut down the waning epidemic in West Africa, according to interim results from a study published Friday. There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the world’s biggest outbreak began in the forest region of Guinea last year. Cases have dropped dramatically in recent months in the other two hard-hit countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Читать дальше...

CINCINNATI — Two University of Cincinnati police officers who were at the scene just after a fellow officer fatally shot a driver are not being charged, a prosecutor said Friday. The Hamilton County grand jury did not return indictments against Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt. The announcement that they wouldn’t be charged came a day after former Officer Ray Tensing pleaded not guilty to murder and voluntary manslaughter in the July 19 shooting of Samuel DuBose. ... Читать дальше...

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — Video surveillance footage released Friday shows a rail car that was accidentally set in motion by a 13-year-old boy ramming an antique locomotive into a train station, sending passengers waiting for a train scrambling for safety. Oneida County officials released the footage as they called on federal rail regulators to explain how a 265,000-pound rail car left unattended for two weeks could be unlatched by a teenager playing on the car, according to the account of the July 21 accident that the teen gave to Utica police. Читать дальше...

“I’m very interested in the idea of transcendence and the question of where we go to experience healing and wonder, and yet I don’t think contemplation has had a comfortable place in the world of contemporary art,” says multimedia artist Lava Thomas, whose absorbing site-specific installation “Looking Back and Seeing Now” is on display at the Berkeley Art Center. “I wanted to create a site expressly to encourage reflection and let the viewer see, when they sit still with the work... Читать дальше...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two leading sponsors of many recent Indiana education overhaul measures now want the Legislature to consider steps for possibly stemming the state's declining number of new teachers. The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate education committees have asked General Assembly leaders to approve having the legislative education study committee review what is causing the drop and how the state could respond. The head of the state's largest teachers union, meanwhile, said Republican-backed... Читать дальше...

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The deadline came and went at 1 p.m. PDT Friday, and the Giants did nothing beyond acquiring pitcher Mike Leake on Thursday night. Until further notice, the Giants are hanging tight with the depth they have in place, including utility infielder Ehire Adrianza and No. 5 outfielder Justin Maxwell. GM Bobby Evans’ focus was a starting pitcher, and Leake was his man. The right-hander was acquired from the Reds for two minor-leaguers, Class A pitcher... Читать дальше...

Human pyramid A photo posted by @amyschumer on Jul 30, 2015 at 7:23pm PDT Jennifer Lawrence has become fast friends with fellow actress Amy Schumer, and the pair have jetted off on vacation together. The stars are enjoying a getaway with a group of gal pals, and Schumer shared photos from their beach adventures on Instagram.com, including one of the pair on a jet ski. Jlaw #maniac A photo posted by @amyschumer on Jul 30, 2015 at 7:30am PDT Binders of women A photo posted by @amyschumer on Jul 30... Читать дальше...

The weekly poll THIS WEEK’S TOPIC What are your primary concerns about legalizing marijuana in California? 60% None — let the good times roll 28% Big Tobacco taking over the business 10% Youth using weed 2% A pot shop opening next door Total votes so far... Читать дальше...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his pediatrician wife, Priscilla Chan, are expecting a baby. The co-founder of the world's largest social network used a Facebook post Friday to announce that Chan is pregnant with a healthy baby daughter. He didn't say when the baby is due. Zuckerberg, 31, also said the couple had suffered three miscarriages over the last two years. He acknowledged in his post that many people are reluctant to speak publicly about miscarriages. But he said he and Chan... Читать дальше...

Scotland Yard Former Bin 38 space is all set to travel back in time when new occupant, Scotland Yard, officially opens its doors tonight (July 31st) at 6 p.m. Related Links The dossier on Scotland Yard, taking over Bin38 this summer Named after London’s famed police headquarters, the new restaurant from Brian Cassanego and Jeff Gabrielson (Hayes Valley’s jazz era-themed Noir Lounge) and designed by G. Paoletti Design Lab (Maven, Tipsy Pig), is meant to channel Victorian London. While not overtly British... Читать дальше...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — When an Ohio prosecutor charged a campus police officer with murder in the death of a driver during a traffic stop, he offered a harsh judgment on University of Cincinnati police, saying the school should not be in the business of law enforcement at all. That statement and the circumstances of the shooting near campus have raised questions about college police departments, which often possess powers that extend beyond their schools' boundaries. More universities are adding officers and arming them... Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 years after banning prisoners from receiving student aid, some federal and state inmates could be eligible for Pell grant money to take college courses while still behind bars. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the administration's new Second Chance Pell Pilot program during a visit Friday to the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup, Maryland. "America is a nation of second chances," Duncan said. "Giving people who have... Читать дальше...

When Buddhist poet Philip Whalen belonged to the San Francisco Zen Center, an inquisitive fellow asked him if he was gay, straight or other. “I think I’m what you would call polymorphous perverse,” he replied, though as David Schneider reports in “Crowded by Beauty,” his new biography of Whalen, he never seems to have enjoyed sex, perverse or otherwise, with another person. “No one,” Schneider writes, “can ever remember Philip’s having a girlfriend or a boyfriend. No one ever saw him appear in public anywhere as part of a couple.

Recommendations of recent books from the staffs of a rotating list of Bay Area independent bookstores. This week’s list is from Orinda Books, 276 Village Square, Orinda. (925) 254-7606. www.orindabooks.com. Fiction Circling the Sun by Paula McLain: The life journey of an extraordinary woman who grew up in Kenya and lived according to her own internal compass. As in “Paris Wife,” with Hadley Hemingway, McLain has taken the story of Beryl Markham and fleshed it out for an exciting read.

Aug. 9 marks the 70th anniversary of the “concentric circles of death” that annihilated Nagasaki. In her book, “Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War,” independent historian Susan Southard recounts the day that Japan’s southern city “convulsed,” through the lens of five survivors, all teenagers at the time of the bombing. We meet the petite and stylish 16-year-old self-proclaimed tomboy, Do-oh, whose brother has been killed in Guam, and the motherless youth Taniguchi, who, at 16, is... Читать дальше...

As an education reporter, I’m often asked whether a particular public school is a good one or bad one. These nervous parents pore over school test scores and worry. This school, they say, isn’t in the top 10 percent on standardized tests. It must be a bad school, they conclude. As hard as I’ve tried, I’ve had little success reassuring them that not every school can be in the top 10 percent — it’s statistically impossible — and there are a lot of good and great schools that don’t have great or even good test scores. Читать дальше...

We recommend these recently reviewed books: Barbarian Days By William Finnegan (Penguin Press; 447 pages; $27.95) ... Читать дальше...

She took the forged check to the bank and cashed it. “Into the Valley,” a novel by Ruth Galm So I’m at my desk in the open-plan area of District 8 Police Station when a rumor blows through the room similar to a gust of wind in a rice paddy. “The Bangkok Asset,” a novel by John Burdett ... Читать дальше...

At the beginning of Annie Liontas’ darkly comic debut novel, Stavros Stavros Mavrakis — irascible father, diner owner, Cretan immigrant — dreams of a goat that portends his looming death. When a real goat appears, announced with deadpan nonchalance by his business partner, Marina — “There is a goat here for you, Stavro,” it signals the mix of the absurd and the realistic that is to come. Through an e-mail revealing his coming death to his family, Stavros also takes the opportunity to explain what ails each of them. Читать дальше...

Early in David Payne’s “Barefoot to Avalon: A Brother’s Story,” his mother asks for the book not to be written. “He’s not here to defend himself,” she says, referring to Payne’s deceased younger brother, George A. “Write something else, something that belongs to you.” The line is a slap in the face for the author, and also for the reader. At this point, we’ve already gotten some unsavory details about George A. and have been teased (though teased feels like a gross word to use) with the tragic... Читать дальше...