text:
He rose to the feeling of movement.

He knew not where the movement came from, but Chris was completely sure that movement was near. His eyes opened and adjusted to the almost impenetrable gloom of his bedroom at midnight. The shelves reached out from his walls, seeming ghostlike in nature at this hour, in the dark. The television at the opposite side of his room peered at him through the dark, reflecting his pale, panicked expression as he sat in his bed, staring around his room. But it didn’t move. Neither did the jeans he wore yesterday, slung across his char, or his shoes, sat haphazardly not too far away.

The movement persisted and Chris knew he would have to investigate. His eyes moved from corner to corner in his room, scoping every inch for tell-tale signs of entry, or even one of his two dogs running around the house, but neither showed; only the lonely emptiness of darkness and silence in the house, and a tap dripping ever so quietly from the bathroom were present at this hour. He checked the time on his mobile phone (he had no clock in his room, he saw no need for such a thing since he already had at least 3 items with clocks built into the software), and the time read 01:32, 08/02/2010.

But still the movement…

He couldn’t hear anything, or see anything, but he knew the movement was near. He could almost sense it, wriggling, crawling around, as if it was under his skin. A sharp pang of panic rang through his body, and he sat still, upright in his bed. The movement *was* under his skin. And it was growing with intensity with every passing second. And then the pain started.

Oh, the pain. His flesh burned at first with only slight discomfort; he could have initially mistaken the sensation for an itch or even a tickle. But it grew. It grew with an alarming pace, the speed matched (possibly even bested) by the growing of his panic at the sudden voluminous pain racking his left arm. He threw off his bed covers and gasped, his mouth agape, at the sight he saw before him on his arm.

His entire forearm was alive - barely - with blisters, open sores, weeping with dull black blood and oozing yellow, sickly pus in equal measure. But that was only intensified by the rate at which this affliction was spreading – the sores were erupting up past his elbow and onto his arm. But worse still, his forearm was only getting deader. The flesh on his forearm was beginning to necrotise, skin peeling back, revealing rotten muscle tissue and tendons ready to snap from pressure.

As his skin began to peel – and his initial shock began to subside – Chris began to scream. Not the classic Hollywood scream, not a voluminous howl you hear in the movies. That sort of scream doesn’t happen in these situations. What came from Chris’ mouth was a low whimper, the sound you would normally hear from someone as they had just received a blow to the stomach that ejected the air sharply from the lungs, but extended over a period of a few seconds. He screamed (although you could call it a sigh and still not be quite wrong) and flopped out of bed and on to all fours, the fingers on his left hand practically disintegrating in the process. They fell off like ash from burned paper – and looked none too different. His entire arm now looked like the result of severe burn damage, and skin

*Or was it muscle? It was becoming increasingly hard to tell. It was all coming off, what was the use in discerning which it was?*

Was flaking off at an alarming rate.

The bones of his arm were becoming visible. Not just visible, but prominent. You’d be forgiven, from looking at a snapshot of this moment, for assuming he was born without flesh on his arm, and at this precise moment was beginning to miraculously generate flesh. His flesh was disappearing before his eyes, flaking away like ash, and all Chris could think was “why isn’t there any blood?”

And as quickly as it began, it was over. He had closed his eyes only for a moment, breathing in with choking sobs, and opened them – to see that his skin was back. But all wasn’t well. He began to scream again; only this time with some real volume.

For his skin had become greasy green scales, and was writhing with a mind of its own, the pain replaced by horrid, grating nausea. Chris rose, stumbling against his bookshelf in the process, knocking a couple of books to the floor, and stumbled out of his room. As he stepped into the hallway, he noticed a new sound, complemented by a strange feeling under his feet.

*Crunch*

Bugs. Cockroaches, spiders, and beetles lay over every surface. Floors, walls, windowsills and doors were coated in bugs, and, Chris noticed, were crawling on a thick coat of viscous dark red liquid. Blood, he thought to himself, barely holding back a gag, heaving at the thought. He brought his right hand to his face to catch a cough, he noticed that his right arm had also become covered in scales, and that they were peeling off just like his skin previously had done, and the pain had returned in full force, and then some.

Yelling through his teeth, Chris pressed on to the bathroom, crushing bugs beneath his feet, noticing that the felt oddly soft against his skin –no, scales. He flicked the bathroom light on and walked to the sink, not yet looking in the mirror, but at his feet which he noticed had a fresh coat of scales on, and claws posing proudly as toenails. He gathered the courage to look into the mirror, and saw that his face was also covered in scales, and that he had webbing protruding from his back; not only that, but as he opened his mouth to scream, he noticed a snake’s tongue in his mouth, and slits for nostrils.

And when he did scream, all that came from his mouth was a long, reptilian hiss.

title: The Itch (draft). Just over 1000 words. Criticism needed!

question: How does Chris transform into a monster?

answer: First his left arm entirely disintegrates. It begins with boils, and then his skin and flesh peel away. Then his bones become visible. In its place he finds scales growing across his body. Then his right arm transforms. He runs to the bathroom and looks in the mirror to see himself with slits for nostrils and a snake's tongue.


split: test

text:
“I don’t think you understand,” I said.

“I’m not sad, I’m not angry, I’m just… Done. I’ve lived, I’ve loved.” I sat atop the Highrise in which I lived, my loving wife beside me.

“But… I don’t want you to go,” She said.

“I’m not going,” I replied,

“I’ll be back.”

“You’re about to jump off a one-hundred story building, there’s no coming back from that!” *She’s angry,* I thought. *It’s a shame she doesn’t understand…*

“One-hundred and eighty-six years on this planet, is that not long enough? Please, let me go.” I said.

“Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you should end everything,” She yelled, tears streaming down her face. *I hate seeing you go through this,* I thought. *Maybe I’m being selfish…* **No**, no, that can’t be it. I’m not doing this for me…

“It’s not because I’m old,” I said.

“It’s because I’m finished. I’ve done everything, there’s nothing left for me here.” My wife did not reply. Her face was contorted with fear, anger, and yet... I sat calmly, at peace with my decision.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“May we meet again,” I said.  *I love you…*

Then I jumped.

title: [RF]The End of the End

question: Who does the narrator say "I don't think you understand" to?

answer: His wife

question: What is the most negative event in this story?

answer: The narrator jumps off a building to end his life.

question: Why does the narrator want to end everything?

answer: He feels that he's finished with life and that there's nothing left for him at 186 years old.

question: How does the narrator feel about their wife?

answer: He claims to love her.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is ready to end his life at 186 years old. He is about to jump off a 100 story building, and his wife is bargaining with him to not do it. He tells her that there is nothing left for him in this world, but she doesn't say anything. He tells her he loves her and jumps off the building.


text:
Watch: Austrian MP Tests Cola for Covid-19 – Yields Positive Result

Watch: Wisconsin Election Hearing Exposes Democrats Taking Advantage of Nursing Home Residents & More

Breaking: Trump Signals He Knows He Won Election And WILL Be Inaugurated

Texas Crushes Pennsylvania in Juicy Legal Response, Paving Way for Supreme Court Decision

The Age of Mass Conformity

Nobel Laureate, PCR Inventor Said Fauci Was a Liar, Abusing Test Data For An Agenda And Afraid To Debate

Million MAGA March 2! Infowars Live on the Ground in DC!

NHS Commercial Terrifies Children by Showing Santa Dying of COVID

question: What did Texas respond to Pennsylvania for?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Who does the NHS commercial show dying of COVID?

answer: Santa

question: Why did the Austrian MP test Cola for Covid-19?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Did Trump win the election?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A news summary.


text:
BRACKEN COUNTY is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,488.[1] Its county seat is Brooksville.[2] The county was formed in 1796. Bracken County is included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Bracken County was organized as Kentucky's 23rd county in 1796 from parts of Mason and Campbell counties.[3][4] It was named after two creeks, the Big and Little Bracken, which in turn were named for Matthew Bracken, an 18th-century explorer and surveyor who visited the area in 1773.[5] He was later killed by Indians during the Northwest Indian War. The county originally extended to southern Nicholas County, north to the Ohio River, west to the Licking River and east to Dover, Kentucky.[6]

Several early settlers were veterans of the American Revolutionary War, including Captain Abner Howell, who brought his family came from Pennsylvania. He died in Bracken County in 1797.

The county government moved from Augusta to WOODWARD'S CROSSING (now Brooksville) in 1833.

Bracken was the birthplace of John Gregg Fee, founder of Berea College and Kentucky's most noted abolitionist. He was a graduate of Augusta College and Lane Theological Seminary. In 1822 Augusta College was founded as the first Methodist college in the world.

Anti-slavery activists in Bracken County played a major role in the movement known as the Underground Railroad. There are several Underground Railroad sites in the Augusta area. A network of citizens sympathetic to escaping slaves helped them cross the Ohio River to nearby Ripley, Ohio and other points north.[7]

Bracken County's economy was largely agricultural. Its chief crops before the Civil War were tobacco and corn. White burley tobacco, a light, adaptable leaf that revolutionized the industry, was first sold at the 1867 St. Louis Fair by the farmer Mr. Webb from Higginsport, Ohio. He had produced it in 1864 from Bracken County seed and developed the type.[8] It became a major product of central Kentucky and central Tennessee.

Agriculture remains vital to the economy, with farms occupying 83.8 percent of the land area in 1982. Commodities include wheat, hay, and milk. Burley tobacco production in 1988 amounted to 5,406,000 pounds. Agricultural receipts in 1986 totaled $19,158,000.[9]

Historic schools

Augusta:

-   Bracken Academy
-   Augusta Methodist College

Brooksville:

-   Saint James Elementary and High School

Germantown:

-   Germantown College

Milford:

-   Milford Graded and High School

Law and government

Judge Executives

1.  Earl Bush (2011–Present)
2.  Gary Riggs (2007–2011)
3.  Leslie Newman (2002–2007)
4.  Dwayne “Pie” Jett (1987–2002)

  Year                               Republican                                  Democratic                                  Third parties
  ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ---------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |76.9% _2,711_   style=“text-align:center;” |20.0% _705_     3.2% _111_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |62.8% _2,029_   style=“text-align:center;” |35.5% _1,147_   1.7% _56_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |60.8% _2,066_   style=“text-align:center;” |36.5% _1,241_   2.7% _92_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |65.5% _2,363_   style=“text-align:center;” |33.6% _1,213_   0.9% _34_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |68.4% _2,065_   style=“text-align:center;” |29.4% _888_     2.2% _66_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |50.4% _1,371_   style=“text-align:center;” |38.8% _1,055_   10.8% _294_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |39.6% _1,162_   style=“text-align:center;” |42.9% _1,259_   17.4% _511_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |57.7% _1,630_   style=“text-align:center;” |41.6% _1,176_   0.6% _18_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |60.9% _1,812_   style=“text-align:center;” |38.2% _1,136_   0.9% _28_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |43.7% _1,154_   style=“text-align:center;” |53.7% _1,420_   2.7% _70_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |35.2% _879_     style=“text-align:center;” |63.2% _1,577_   1.6% _39_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |64.3% _1,628_   style=“text-align:center;” |34.5% _873_     1.2% _31_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |40.8% _1,115_   style=“text-align:center;” |39.1% _1,067_   20.1% _550_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |30.5% _861_     style=“text-align:center;” |69.5% _1,958_   0.0% _0_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |60.2% _2,002_   style=“text-align:center;” |39.8% _1,326_   0.0% _0_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |53.5% _1,754_   style=“text-align:center;” |46.3% _1,515_   0.2% _7_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |49.1% _1,690_   style=“text-align:center;” |50.9% _1,753_   0.0% _1_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |39.1% _1,239_   style=“text-align:center;” |58.8% _1,863_   2.0% _64_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |43.4% _1,483_   style=“text-align:center;” |56.0% _1,915_   0.6% _19_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |44.1% _1,551_   style=“text-align:center;” |55.7% _1,961_   0.3% _9_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |41.7% _1,436_   style=“text-align:center;” |56.8% _1,956_   1.5% _52_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |37.5% _1,471_   style=“text-align:center;” |61.4% _2,407_   1.1% _43_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |70.0% _2,820_   style=“text-align:center;” |29.8% _1,201_   0.2% _9_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |51.7% _1,779_   style=“text-align:center;” |43.1% _1,485_   5.2% _179_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |40.1% _1,791_   style=“text-align:center;” |58.7% _2,621_   1.3% _56_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |38.3% _1,082_   style=“text-align:center;” |59.4% _1,676_   2.3% _65_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |29.2% _693_     style=“text-align:center;” |55.4% _1,315_   15.5% _367_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[10]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.6%) is water.[11]

Adjacent counties

-   Clermont County, Ohio (north – across the Ohio River)
-   Brown County, Ohio (northeast – across the Ohio River)
-   Mason County (east)
-   Robertson County (south)
-   Harrison County (southwest)
-   Pendleton County (west)

Demographics

As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 8,279 people, 3,228 households, and 2,346 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 3,715 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.48% White, 0.62% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. 0.47% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,228 households, out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were married couples living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 23.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,823, and the median income for a family was $40,469. Males had a median income of $31,503 versus $21,139 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,478. About 7.60% of families and 10.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over.

Education

-   Augusta Independent Schools in Augusta
-   Saint Augustine Elementary School in Augusta
-   Bracken County Schools in Brooksville

Communities

-   Augusta
-   Brooksville (county seat)
-   Foster
-   Germantown

Notable residents

-   Nick Clooney, a Cincinnati journalist and former newsanchor, and his wife Nina live in Augusta.
-   George Clooney, their son and an actor, grew up in Augusta and went to high school there.
-   Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000, grew up in Augusta and still lives there. Heather and her husband, former Ky. Lt. Governor Steve Henry, are the curators of the Rosemary Clooney Museum in Augusta.
-   Rosemary Clooney, singer and actress, lived in Augusta. Her most notable film was _White Christmas._
-   John G. Fee, Minister and Educator, Born in Bracken Co. Founder _Berea College._

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] “Bracken County History”, Kentucky Historical Society

[7] “Underground Railroad” , Augusta, Kentucky Website

[8] J.M. Stoddart, _Encyclopædia Britannica. American Supplement_ (Stoddart's Encyclopaedia Americana: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, and Companion to the Encyclopædia Britannica. (9th ed.) and to All Other Encyclopaedias, Volume 1), 1883, pp. 120-123, accessed February 5, 2011

[9] “Bracken County, KY”, Genealogy Inc

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: Bracken County, Kentucky

question: Summarize everything relating to historical figures.

answer: The Big and Little Bracken were named after Matthew Bracken, an 18-th century explorer and surveyor who visited the area in 1773 and was killed during the Northwest Indian War. Early settlers included Captain Abner Howell from the American Revolutionary War, who died there in 1797. Bracken was the birthplace of abolitionist John Gregg Fee. White burley tobacco was first sold by the farmer Mr. Webb at the 1867 St. Louis Fair.

question: What does the article say about bodies of water?

answer: The county originally extended north to the Ohio River and west to the Licking River. It was named after two creeks: the Big and Little Bracken.

question: What does the article say about the county's founder?


text:
CORRUPTION IN GHANA has been common since independence. Since 2006, Ghana's score and ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index has improved slightly, ranked higher than Italy and Brazil.[1] However, there is a growing perception in Ghana that government-related corruption is on the rise.,[2] ranked 64th in 2012, tied with Lesotho. Even though corruption in Ghana is relatively low when compared to other countries in Africa, businesses frequently quote corruption as an obstacle for doing business in the country. Corruption occurs often in locally funded contracts, companies are subject to bribes when operating in rural areas.[3]

In a 1975 book, Victor T. Le Vine wrote that bribery, theft and embezzlement arose from reversion to a traditional winner-takes-all attitude in which power and family relationships prevailed over the rule of law.[4] Corruption in Ghana is comparatively less prevalent than in other countries in the region.[5]

Ghana is not a signatory to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery. It has, however, taken steps to amend laws on public financial administration and public procurement. The public procurement law, passed in January 2004, seeks to harmonize the many public procurement guidelines used in the country and also to bring public procurement into conformity with World Trade Organization standards. The new law aims to improve accountability, value for money, transparency and efficiency in the use of public resources.[6]

However, some in civil society have criticized the law as inadequate. The government, in conjunction with civil society representatives, is drafting a Freedom of Information bill, which will allow greater access to public information. Notwithstanding the new procurement law, companies cannot expect complete transparency in locally funded contracts. There continue to be allegations of corruption in the tender process and the government has in the past set aside international tender awards in the name of national interest.[7]

Businesses report being asked for “favors” from contacts in Ghana, in return for facilitating business transactions. The Government of Ghana has publicly committed to ensuring that government officials do not use their positions to enrich themselves. Official salaries, however, are modest, especially for low-level government employees, and such employees have been known to ask for a “dash” (tip) in return for assisting with license and permit applications.[8]

Areas of Corruption

Parliament

Member of parliament for the Chiana-Paga constituency, Abuga Pele was convicted in February 2018 and charged with a six year jail term for willfully causing a loss of GH¢4.1 million to the state of Ghana.[9][10] In June 2009, Mubarak Muntaka resigned from his position as Minister of Youth and Sports on the orders of president Mills following investigations into dozens of allegations leveled against him including financial malpractice and abuse of power. Ghana's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice asked Mubarak Muntaka to refund misappropriated funds.[11][12][13]

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice was petitioned by a pressure group in September 2009 to investigate Mahama Ayariga for acquiring 5 subsidized tractors from the ministry of Agriculture that were meant to support underprivileged farmers in rural communities. Appointments Committee of Parliament initially suspended his approval of becoming a minister pending investigations, that cleared him afterwards.[14] Mahama Ayariga claimed that his application to acquire the tractors “was approved” and he was unaware that there was an “affordable arrangements” scheme associated with purchasing the tractors.[15] The investigation was reopened in July 2017 when a different political party formed a new government.[16]

Current Ghana government

[Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana.] Nana Akufo-Addo took office as Ghana's president in January 2017 after winning the December 2016 presidential elections.[17]

Medicine

In 2017,the then deputy minister of health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, asserted that Ghana's health sector had high corruption rates because of its low level of accountability.[18] For example, doctors at the Tamale Teaching hospital plant agents to direct patients from the hospital to their clinics and direct patients to procure drugs and lab tests outside the hospital thus reducing hospital revenue. They go into agreement with these pharmacies and labs so they profit from the referrals.[19] Ghana's health sector was ranked second most corrupt in Africa, with most of the allocated public resources ending up in the pockets of corrupt private individuals.[20]

The worst affected people are the poor individuals who are not sensitised on medical practices in the hospital. Medical practitioners end up selling watered-down medicines and even request bribes to allow patients jump queues.[21] In Koforidua in the eastern region of Ghana, a combined team of US and Ghanaian medical professionals were supposed to undertake the “Operation Walk Syracuse”, a surgical procedure for some selected arthritis patients. It was revealed that some of the local professionals in the St. Joseph's hospital had charged from prospective patients sums of money ranging from GHC100.00 to GHC6,000.00 to allow them access the procedure. Meanwhile, this was at the blind side of the US team.[22]

Anti-corruption efforts

The 1992 Constitution provided for the establishment of a Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). Among other things, the Commission is charged with investigating all instances of alleged and suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public funds by officials. The Commission is also authorized to take appropriate steps, including providing reports to the Attorney General and the Auditor-General, in response to such investigations. The Commission has a mandate to prosecute alleged offenders when there is sufficient evidence to initiate legal actions. The Commission, however, is under-resourced and few prosecutions have been made since its inception.[23]

In 1998, the Government of Ghana also established an anti-corruption institution, called the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), to investigate corrupt practices involving both private and public institutions. A law to revise the SFO law is being drafted and it is expected to define more clearly treatment of the proceeds from criminal activities. The government also announced plans to streamline the roles of the CHRAJ and SFO, in order to remove duplication of efforts. The government passed a “Whistle Blower” law in July 2006, intended to encourage Ghanaian citizens to volunteer information on corrupt practices to appropriate government agencies. In December 2006, CHRAJ issued guidelines on conflict of interest to public sector workers. As of February 2009, a Freedom of Information bill was still pending in Parliament.[24]

During the Anti-Corruption Summit in London on May 12, Ghana urged its delegates to sign these eight steps in hope of decreasing corruption: 1. The public should know who owns and profits from companies, trusts and other legal entities. 2. We need tighter rules to stop corrupt money being spent on property and luxury goods. 3. Banks and businesses should be required to find out who they're dealing with, and report it if they come across shell companies or dodgy practices. 4. Companies buying oil, gas and minerals, and those in the defence and construction sectors must make details of their payments to any government, on any project, available to the public. 5. Companies should reveal how much tax they pay in every country they do business in. 6. All government contracting processes around the world should be open. 7. All government budgets around the world should be available for anyone to view. 8. Corruption hunters should have access to timely, comparable and relevant open data on the issues above as well as the technology that will allow them to work effectively.[25]

On 7 February 2012, it was reported that four prominent supporters of Ghana’s ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) had been arrested and charged with corruption in an Accra court. Alfred Agbesi Woyome was charged with crimes including corrupting public officials over a multi million-dollar payment that a government inquiry alleged he had claimed illegally. Chief attorney Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, his wife and the finance ministry's legal director were also charged with aiding and abetting a crime.[26]

Following the numerous allegations of corruption leveled against some appointees of President John Dramani Mahama, an initiative was taken to help appointees avoid situations that would put them in a seeming situation of conflict of interest, hence guarding corruption. This led to the publication of the code of ethics for government appointees in 2013. Primarily, the code of ethics was to be the go-to document to enable officials know and anticipate any situation that could compromise a public official.[27]

The New Patriotic Party made it a campaign promise to fight corruption in the round up to the 2016 general election; it proposed, among other things, the establishment of the office of Special Prosecutor to handle all corruption related matters. Upon assuming governance in 2017, an Act of parliament was passed to create the office.[28] The president sworn into office Martin Amidu as the first person to occupy the office, notwithstanding his affiliation to the opposition NDC.[29]

Activists

Due to high levels of corruption incidences in Ghana, some Ghanaians have dedicated time, money and other resources to fight and curb corruption.

1.  Anas Aremeyaw Anas - An undercover investigative journalist whose works have led to the arrest and conviction of persons mainly in government, who were found to be engaged in corruption related practices. Ironically, Anas has, in some specific and outed instances, been cited in the very evils he supposedly stands against.[30][31]
2.  Martin Amidu - Appointed to the Office of the Special Prosecutor by the Akuffo Addo government although he associates with the opposition National Democratic Congress, Amidu was a former deputy attorney general who was removed by the Atta Mills government for his perceived accusation of members of his own party on corruption charges. Unfortunately for Martin Amidu and the millions of Ghanaians who had put their hopes in him, little or nothing significant has come out after his appointment.[32]
3.  Nana Akwasi Awuah[33][34][35][36][37]
4.  Bright Simmons
5.  Manasseh Azure
6.  Emmanuel Wilson Jnr. The Chief Crusader- Crusaders Against Corruption, Ghana.[38]
7.  Elizabeth Ohene

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] 2009 Investment Climate Statement: Ghana. Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State (February 2009).

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[9]

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[11]

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[14]

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[18] http://citifmonline.com/2017/10/02/too-much-fraud-in-health-sector-minister-complains/

[19] https://www.primenewsghana.com/general-news/corruption-at-tamale-teaching-hospital.html

[20] https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-s-health-sector-ranked-2nd-most-corrupt-220815

[21] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233529115_Corruption_in_Ghanaian_Healthcare_System_The_Consequences

[22]  News Ghana|website=www.newsghana.com.gh|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-30}}

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[38]

title: Corruption in Ghana

question: Summarize various instances of corruption that have recently surfaced in Ghana?

answer: Abuga Pele, a member of parliament for the Chiana-Paga constituency, was convicted in 2018 of willfully causing a loss of GHc4.1 million to the country. Also, Mubarak Muntaka resigned as the Minister of Youth and Sport in 2009 after accusations of financial misappropriation and abuse of power. Also in 2009, Mahama Ayariga was accused of five subsidized tractors that were meant to support underprivileged farmers in rural areas.


text:
On November 8, 1950, a flight of four straight-winged jets swooped down on an airfield at Sinuiju, North Korea—on the Korean side of the border with China. The F-80 Shooting Stars raked the airfield with their six nose-mounted .50 caliber machine guns as black bursts of antiaircraft fire tore the sky around them.

The Shooting Stars had arrived a few months earlier, in response to North Korea’s overwhelming invasion of its southern neighbor using Soviet-supplied tanks, artillery and aircraft. After a rough early period, a UN counterattack had turned the tables: these F-80s from the Fifty-First Fighter Wing were flying out of U.S.-occupied Pyongyang, striking the remaining North Korean forces near the border with China.

After completing their third pass, Maj. Evans Stephens and his wingman Lt. Russell Brown climbed to twenty thousand feet so they could cover their two wingmates. Suddenly, Brown spotted the silvery glint of around ten jet fighters streaking towards them from higher altitude across the Chinese border. He radioed the other element to abort their attack run—MiGs were coming!

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What followed was, debatably, the first air battle between jet fighters in history—and the American pilots were flying the slower planes.

AMERICA’S PLAN TO COUNTER NAZI JETS

The United States’ first jet plane, the Bell P-59 Airacomet, first flew on October 1942. Though sixty armed production models were eventually built, the Airacomets were never deployed operationally because their early, unreliable turbojets gave them a maximum speed of only around 410 miles per hour—slower than the P-51 Mustang piston-engine fighter then in service. But in 1943 Allied intelligence indicated that Nazi Me-262 jets capable of 540 miles per hour would soon join the fray. Lockheed was asked to produce its own jet fighter using a more powerful British turbojet—in just six months.

Legendary aviation engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, future designer of theSR-71 Blackbird spy plane, scratched out a clean design with elegant, almost art-deco lines and modern tricycle landing gear. A flyable prototype was designed and assembled in a mere 143 days under conditions of absolute secrecy—only a handful of the 130 personnel assigned to the project even knew they were building a jet plane!

The XP-80 prototype could exceed five hundred miles per hour—faster than any operational piston-engine fighter, and the de Havilland Goblin engine was eventually exchanged for a more powerful Allison J33 turbojet with two intakes just below the canopy.

However, the Shooting Star retained the straight wings and tail of World War II piston-engine fighters—design elements that impaired performance when approaching the speed of sound. Problems with the fuel pump on the XP-80 caused fatal accidents that killed Lockheed’s chief test pilot and later Richard Bong, the top-scoring U.S. ace of World War II.

As for the Nazi jets, though they were formidable adversaries, fuel shortagesand deteriorating industrial base prevented them from having a large impact. While the UK managed to deploy some its own Meteor jets in response, they never encountered their German counterparts.

Just four preproduction YP-80As made it to Europe in 1945 before World War II ended. Two remained in England, where one suffered yet another fatal crash. The other two were deployed to Italy, where they flew a few missions before the end of the war but did not encounter enemy aircraft.

Lockheed nonetheless built more than 1,700 Shooting Stars in the years after World War II, redesignated F-80. A new F-80B model followed, which introduced an ejection seat, followed by the definitive F-80C, which added more powerful J33-A-35 engines boosting speed up to six hundred miles per hour and distinctive 260-gallon wingtip fuel tanks, extending range to 1,200 miles. Dozens were even transferred to the Navy and Marines, modified with arrestor hooks so aviators could practice jet-powered carrier landings. An RF-80 photo-recon model that had a camera in a translucent nose panel also saw widespread service.

America’s first operational jet fighter soon started setting records. In 1946 a Shooting Star made the first jet-powered coast-to-coast flight across the United States from Long Beach California to New York. The same year, an F-80 unit flew across the Atlantic. A specially modified P-80R “racer” even set a (brief) world airspeed record of 623 miles per hour.

AIR WAR OVER KOREA

The Shooting Star proved more than a match for the Yak-9 fighters and armored Il-10 Sturmovik attack planes operated by the North Korean People’s Air Force in the initial months of the Korean War—but the MiG-15 was another matter.

A sleeker, more modern design than the F-80, the Soviet jet had swept wings and was powered by a reverse-engineered and uprated VK-1 turbojet based on Rolls-Royce Nene engines that the British government had incredibly agreed to sell to the Soviet Union in 1946. Not only could the communist fighters easily outrun the Shooting Stars at 670 miles per hour, but they had heavier armament in the form of two twenty-three-millimeter cannons and a huge thirty-seven-millimeter gun.

The MiGs first saw action in the closing stages of the Chinese Civil War, and made their presence known in Korea on November 1, 1950 when they flew over from China to ambush a squadron of U.S. F-51 Mustangs, shooting down one. While Soviet instructors endeavored to train North Korean pilots, Russian World War II veterans ended up flying most of the jets’ early combat missions over Korea.

In the encounter with P-80s on November 8, only two of the Soviet fighters persisted on an intercept course. Stephens and Brown banked sharply to the left and maneuvered into a firing position on the approaching fighters. Though four of Brown’s six M3 machine guns had jammed, he managed to fire several short bursts at his chosen target. The MiG rolled over and dove—and Brown followed, hurtling towards the ground at six hundred miles per hour. Holding down the trigger, he raked the jet until he saw it burst into flames, then pulled back up at the last possible moment.

The American pilot had claimed the kill in the first duel of jet fighters.

However, Soviet records for November 8 tell a different story. MiG pilot Lt. Vladimir Kharitonov reported he was ambushed by an American jet—but that he successfully evaded in a dive while ditching his external fuel tanks. In fact, Russian histories claim the first jet-on-jet battle occurred on November 1, in which a MiG piloted by Lt. Semyon Khominich shot down the F-80 of Lt. Frank Van Sickle. However, U.S. __ records list Van Sickle as falling to ground fire. In any event, the day after Brown’s engagement, the MiG-15 of Capt. Mikhail Grachev was shot down by a U.S. Navy F9F Panther jet—a kill upon which both side’s records agree.

While credit for the first jet-on-jet kill may remain disputed, the fact that the MiG-15 could outrun, outmaneuver and outgun the F-80 is not. U.S. records show that a total of seventeen Shooting Stars were lost in air-to-air combat, while claiming six MiG-15s in return, in addition to eleven propeller planes. When a formation of huge B-29 bombers escorted by one hundred F-80s and F-84s was ambushed thirty MiGs on April 12, 1951, three B-29s went down in flames without a single attacking fighter lost.

The Air Force rushed to Korea a handful of its most advanced fighters, the F-86 Sabre, which could meet the MiG-15 on equal footing. These proceeded to rack up a favorable kill ratio in frequent air battles over “MiG Alley” near the Chinese border. The F-80s were reassigned to ground-attack duty, a role they were not especially well designed for, though they could carry eight five-inch rockets or two one-thousand-pound bombs underwing.

Over the course of the war, 113 Shooting Stars were lost to ground fire. For example, on November 22, 1952, Maj. Charles Loring’s aircraft was struck by Chinese antiaircraft guns while attacking an artillery position near Kunhwa that had pinned down UN troops. Ignoring his wingman’s radio messages to abort the mission, he deliberately plunged his stricken aircraft into a gun emplacement, a deed for which he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Of the ten F-80 squadrons in Korea, all had transitioned to F-86 Sabre fighters or F-84 ground attack planes by 1953—except one squadron that even reverted to old Mustang fighters. As the Shooting Star was phased out of U.S. service, dozens were passed on to South American air forces such as that of Brazil, where they served into the sixties and seventies.

While the Shooting Star was too outdated to shine over Korea, it did spawn two successors. The more obscure was the F-94 Starfire, a two-seat radar-equipped night fighter that claimed six kills over Korea, including the first jet-on-jet engagement at night versus a MiG-15.

The other was the legendary T-33 two-seat trainer jet. More than 6,500 were built—and another 650 license-built in Canada—and these served the Air Forces of more than forty countries ranging as widely as Burma, France and Yugoslavia. Cuban T-33s even combated CIA-sponsored anti-Castro forces during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, shooting down three B-26 bombers and sinking several ships.

question: Explain the different versions of the November 8 story.

answer: On November 8, 1950, United States' P-80 fighter jets encountered Soviet fighters and maneuvered into firing position. Despite having 4 out of 6 machine guns jammed, Brown managed to hurtle down towards the ground firing at the soviet until it burst. This defeat is considered the first kill in a duel of jet fighters. However, Soviet records tell a different story in which MiG pilot Lt. Vladimir Kharitonov reports being ambushed by an American Jet and successfully evading it. Russian histories also claim the first victory of a jet fighter duel, one week earlier, when MiG piloted by Lt. Semyon Khominich shot down the F-80 of Lt. Frank Van Sickle. Meanwhile U.S. records list Van Sickle falling to ground fire.


text:
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Footsteps crunch across shards of glass and cameras chirp as a group of visitors pushes its way through an evacuated school inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Yellowed school books still sit on the desks, Soviet propaganda hangs on the walls and there are several gas masks dangling about. Mobile phone screens glow in the half-light. Time is kept by the ticking of Geiger counters, the hideous heartbeat of gamma rays.

"It's quite morbid here," says Alex, from Munich. The well-dressed 20-something takes a few selfies, smiling coolly in front of the backdrop of ruins. "I like offbeat experiences," he says. Alex works for an online portal and enjoys traveling to exotic places: to the Nyiragongo volcano in Congo, for example, or to the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. He has also taken a weightless flight with an Airbus and joined a tour through North Korea.

Alex is in Chernobyl with a few friends from school and, as a specialist in strange destinations, the trip was his idea. Chernobyl is a powerful brand name: It has become a post-apocalyptical product, simple to consume.

On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl's reactor Nr. 4 exploded, quickly becoming the most devastating nuclear accident in history. Many of the images stemming from that day have become iconic: the destroyed reactor, little more than a smoking hole after the blast; the convoys that evacuated more than 200,000 people from the danger zone; the wolves, European bison and wild horses that roam freely through the abandoned villages 30 years after the disaster; older residents who refused to leave, living off of half-legal, irradiated potatoes, even though the entire area within a 30 kilometer (19 mile) radius of the nuclear reactor is officially off-limits.

But there is another Chernobyl that doesn't make it into the headlines quite as often. This Chernobyl is a favored "dark tourism" destination, celebrated on websites such as Atlas Obscura. It is a brand of tourism that attracts people with nightmare destinations rather than dreamy beaches. Hiroshima, Verdun, Gettysburg, Pompeii -- places of horror, pain and sadness. Some people refer to it as "disaster porn."

"Hi, my name is Alexei and I'm your DJ for the day," Alexander Rybak says into his microphone. He's a tour guide, but prefers to be referred to as an "Explorer." "Congratulations, you will be visiting the craziest place on earth today!" Everyone on the bus laughs. They have all paid more than $100 in Kiev for the visit to Chernobyl, located about 115 kilometers (80 miles) north of the Ukrainian capital. Dark humor will be the order of the day and becomes something of a lingua franca among the Ukrainians, Germans, Argentinians and Americans on the tour.

After a two-hour drive, the bus passes the checkpoint at the entrance to the exclusion zone. Soldiers examine the travel documents of the tourists behind signs warning of elevated radiation. Chernobyl is widely viewed as a post-apocalyptic place, synonymous with death by radiation. It would be hard for a place to have a worse reputation. Which helps explain why tourism is booming here: In 2015, the administrators of the Chernobyl exclusion zone registered 16,386 visitors from 84 countries.

"There isn't just one Chernobyl," says Alexei, the Explorer. "Everyone sees what he wants to see." He has accompanied fully 500 tour groups to the zone and says that many were quiet and awed while others pounded vodka and turned it into a party. As a child, he and his family were resettled out of the zone and he went on to study English and literature. His favorite book about Chernobyl? "I don't need any books about the zone," he says. "It's part of my family history."

Alexei wears a mischievous smile and a paramilitary-esque uniform. Behind him, a hundred-meter high antenna stretches into the sky. The Soviet army used the facility as part of an early-warning system to detect missile launches in the US. On maps, the military base was labeled "former pioneer camp" in an effort to keep it secret.

Our next stop is the exploded reactor, huge, threatening and sheathed in concrete, the so-called sarcophagus. The radiation dosage here is over 3 micro-sieverts per hour, about 20 times the normal contamination one is exposed to in a big city. On the other hand, though, it is much less than the radiation dosage one receives during a trans-Atlantic flight -- at last according to a brochure passed out in the bus.

"Unfortunately, Ukrainians only think about Chernobyl once a year -- on the anniversary," says Yuri Urbanksi. He was a teenager when the disaster struck, and his parents sent him off to a summer camp for six weeks, which he loved. Today, he is celebrating his 43rd birthday with the trip to the exclusion zone.

Tourists from around the world are gathered in front of the sarcophagus, and they seem like exhilarated children on a field trip. It's not every day, after all, that you can take selfies in a disaster area.

Because the old sarcophagus has begun crumbling, a gigantic new protective shell is being built 300 meters away. It is to weigh over 35 million kilograms, will last for 100 years and will cost over €2 billion. For research, though, there is often a shortage of funding. One UN group complains, for example, that the medical files of the emergency personnel who responded to the disaster in 1986 are "presented in different formats, using different diagnostic criteria and time periods," which makes it difficult to examine them. Even well-known radiobiologists have found it difficult to obtain sufficient funding for studies aimed at looking at the effects of chronic radiation exposure on animals and plants in the exclusion zone.

Questions about how great the damage has been and what Chernobyl has taught us are controversial and politically contentious. It has become a vacuum of knowledge, allowing everybody to see what they want.

Another tour a few days later visits a different attraction inside the zone: an abandoned hospital. "Okay, everyone get out, you have half an hour," says Sergey Teslenko, the good humored guide in his mid-20s. "And watch out for the zombies!" Teslenko is fond of zombie jokes, a reference to films like "Chernobyl Diaries," which used the exclusion zone as a backdrop for horror. Many visitors are also familiar with Chernobyl from video games such as "S.T.A.L.K.E.R," "Call of Duty 4" and "Fallout."

360-Degree Photos from Chernobyl und Prypyat

 []
 Foto: DER SPIEGEL

Those hoping for an informative museum or even just a book shop at the site are destined for disappointment. A restaurant in the town of Chernobyl only has T-shirts and postcards on offer. Everything else is up to the visitors: There is a paucity of information.

For tour operators, Chernobyl tourism is lucrative. With the national currency, the hryvnia, being heavily devalued due to political instability in the country, many people hardly earn more in a month than a single tour costs. On websites like Chernobylstore.com, travelers can book group tours or individual adventures. A visit to one of the quasi-legal residents inside the zone can be had for a surcharge of €17.70 on top of the day rate. If you want to fly a documentary drone, licenses cost a hefty €206.20.

For visitors, the disaster is made consumable. A documentary film is shown during the bus ride from Kiev, followed by a few music videos. One of them is by the band Crucifix, filmed among the ghostly ruins.

The tour group traipses joyfully through the abandoned ruins of the evacuated hospital, taking pictures of the dusty beds before continuing the journey onward to Pripyat, the deserted city located just two kilometers from the destroyed reactor.

"The atom is a worker, not a soldier!" This propaganda slogan praising the civilian application of nuclear energy is displayed high up on a crumbling concrete-block building on Lenin Square. Pripyat was built in 1970 as an ideal socialist city for the 50,000 workers employed at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. It was considered a privilege to live close to the reactors and the residents were promised a radiant future. That future turned out differently than planned. The amusement park in Pripyat, which had been scheduled to open on May 1, 1986, was never used.

There are plenty of dangers still lurking in the region. A couple of steps further and the Geiger counter sounds the alarm. Green is the color of warning: the ground, moss, grass and leaves are often more contaminated than anything else. The clicking of the radiation gauge triggers all kinds of morbid thoughts. What was it like to live here -- and to die here? You could call it the Pompeii Effect, the feelings of mortality one gets in places where life suddenly ended in the wake of an enormous tragedy.

Alexei was right: Everyone sees what they want here.

"Whoa! I just had 3 millisieverts per hour over there! Awesome," says one visitor pointing to his Geiger counter. "And I had 10 once this morning," his buddy answers. Both are wearing simple masks to protect against dust.

 [Radiation in the region]

Radiation in the region

 Foto: DER SPIEGEL

"Could you please move out of the picture?" a visitor asks. She's looking to take an atmospheric picture of a decrepit swimming pool for her Facebook page. Photos from the exclusion zone almost always make it look like there isn't a person around for miles, even as they are taken from within a crowd. Common images include dusty puppets, torn school books and piles of gas masks.

"I would like a ticket please," jokes Katie Woginric, a young American standing at the rusty ticket stand at the Ferris wheel that was never used. One of her traveling partners stands behind the window and hands her an imaginary ticket. She then looks theatrically at the sky as though she were seeing a cloud of poison. Damn! A tourist films the show with his mobile phone.

Is such a thing silly and disrespectful? Her family is originally from Ukraine, Katie explains; she is called Ekaterina at home. She is currently working as a teacher in Normandy, but she got homesick, which is why she took a trip to Ukraine. When she was a child, her father told her about the Chernobyl tragedy -- about the heroic courage of the workers and the pain of the families that once lived here. For Katie, the crumbling ruins are a piece of home.

When she emailed the small video back to her family at home, she got a strong response. "My friends thought it was extremely cool that I was there, my grandparents thought it was crazy and stupid, but my dad especially loved it," she says. In it, Katie poses in a cracked, yellow plastic Ferris wheel seat in what is perhaps the saddest amusement park in the world. She is smiling.

Perhaps the flood of such strident images in the internet could become a jumping-off point for transforming the Chernobyl adventure-playground into a place of learning, though a physical museum isn't strictly necessary. Maybe by the time the next anniversary rolls around there will be an intelligent virtual-reality environment or even just a simple app, offering context, facts and background.

But it's time to head back through the two checkpoints and take final photos at the radiation detector. To leave the zone, visitors must be checked for contamination.

"I hope we'll see each other again soon," says a grinning Sergei in farewell. "We await you after the next disaster in Ukraine!"

Icon: Der Spiegel

question: What does the article say about Alexei?

answer: Alexei is a Ukrainian tour guide (but he likes calling himself an explorer) who was resettled out of Chernobyl as a child with his family. He takes interested people to Chernobyl and comments that every visitor sees what they want to see - there isn't just one Chernobyl. He's an English literature major, but he says he doesn't need books about Chernobyl because it's his family history. He seems fond of dark humor.

question: What does the article say about the prospects of Chernobyl?

answer: The area is a tourism destination for people who like "disaster porn". Tour guides get to earn a lot more money there compared to what they can in most jobs in Ukraine. In addition to the touristic opportunities, the area is an inspiration for many works like video games. Finally, there are a lot of researchers who would like to examine the effects of dozens of years of radiation exposure on the flora and fauna around Chernobyl.

question: What does the story say about retro-futuristic sci-fi?


text:
Strange memories find me on days like this. Dreary days made up of dark skies and leftover sighs from things I wished I'd had the strength to say back then. Back when I was nothing.

 You know that girl in your class...the one who wore dorky glasses and outdated clothes? The one who always got picked last because people were disturbed by the constant hint of kool-aid around her mouth? Well, that or the fact that the ball always seems to gravitate to her face, rather than her hands or her feet where it ought to have gone...the one who had the tiniest bit of a lisp and always talked a little too loud about things no one was interested in? Well in my class, her name was Colleen. And even she knew that to sit next to me at lunch and trade the foil lid to her pudding cup to me was social suicide.

 There was a pretty Spanish girl who once asked me in disgust why I was wearing flip flops in Winter. I told her that they were all I had at the time, and her disgust turned to embaressment and pity. "I will buy you shoes for Christmas!" she promised fervently. When late December came and I was still wearing them, she fidgeted while she asked if I'd mind if she got me something else instead. I shook my head--I hadn't expected anything from her. She never spoke to me after that.

 There was a boy and a girl...siblings. The girl was in my class, the boy a grade above. Robin and Josh. I don't remember any of the specific insults, just the look of pure hatred the few times she made eye contact with me. I realize now that she must have told her brother something about me, and that was why he cracked insults over my head like eggs in the summer heat every single day when we lined up for the bus. At the time I didn't know why he targeted me. I remember more the insults he spewed, but they make my cheeks burn and I don't want to type them out.
 I don't know what possesed me to do it, but one day I came across a biography of Vanilla Ice. I knew Josh was a big fan of the guy, so in the line that day in the middle of his tirade I handed it to him and walked away. He was confused and never bothered me after that. I didn't even give it to him to make him stop--the thought was just in my head that he was the only person I knew of who'd like the book. Robin didn't give me dirty looks after that either, though she made no effort to speak to me. I stopped existing for them. It was a relief.

When I was 9, I lived in apartment building where the neighbor children were varied, but at least they were all just as poor as I. There was a Hispanic boy who loved me from afar, though I didn't get it then. I made friends with two Asian boys--their father ran a small donut shop and when I came in he would make sure to fill a jam donut until it threatened to burst with raspberry goodness, and he never charged me for it. The two boys and I made secret forts in the hedges around the complex. Older boys tore them out and accused us of having sex in them, which absolutely bewildered us. Later they threw rocks...actual rocks at us, with growing frenzy. The Asian boys never came back to play with me after that. There were no more donuts.

And ah, the church groups. Where I arrived 30 minutes early and stayed an hour after the closing prayer, offering to clean up the tables and put away chairs, just to be near people for a little longer. It didn't matter that even they wanted nothing to do with me. Within the walls and under the watchful eye of the youth leaders, the other kids had to at least pretend to tolerate me while I hung on every word spoken around me. Outside in the parking lot, where they sometimes played basketball, was much more of a risk. I took it gladly.

So, so desperate for love...

mm. My husband has just come home. I think I will go hug him close and leave the darker days where they lay.

title: darker days

question: Is Colleen the narrator?

answer: Yes.

question: Does the Spanish girl gift her shoes for Christmas?

answer: No, she offers to gift her something else but ultimately gifts nothing.

question: Did the narrator have any friends?

answer: The narrator once made friends in her neighborhood with two Asian boys but eventually, even they left her side.

question: Is the narrator a girl or a boy?

answer: The narrator is a woman describing her past memories.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator describes her memories as a child. She came from a poor family and hence everybody around her seemed disgusted by her.

The Spanish girl at school made promises of a Christmas gift that never came. Robin and Josh would insult her while lined up for the bus until she gave Josh his favorite book.

Her Asian neighbor's kids were her only friends until they left her side.

She was now married and waiting for her beloved husband to come home and make her feel loved.


text:
Many people assume that they can recycle pizza boxes. In fact, most pizza boxes have recycling symbols on them and are traditionally made from corrugated cardboard. They are, in and of themselves, recyclable before they are used.

However, what makes parts of them non-recyclable is the hot, tasty treat that comes inside them, specifically, the oily crust, savory sauce, and greasy toppings and cheese that make the pizza great. They all soil the cardboard.

A pizza box — or any paper product — that is stained with grease or food is not recyclable unless you remove all of the soiled portions.

But why is this? And what are the implications for the general, pizza-loving public?

How Pizza Boxes Get Recycled

Food is one of the worst contaminants in the paper recycling process. Grease and oil are not as big of a problem in plastic, metal, and glass recycling, as those materials are processed using a heat process. But when paper products, such as cardboard, are recycled, they are mixed with water and turned into a slurry. We all know that water and oil don’t mix, so what are the implications for paper recycling?

Grease from soiled paper products causes oil to form at the top of the slurry, and paper fibers cannot separate from oils during the pulping process. Essentially, the oily contaminant ruins the entire batch of paper fibers. This is also why other food-related items are non-recyclable (such as used paper plates, used napkins, and used paper towels).

“The oil gets in when you’re doing your process of making paper,” said Terry Gellenbeck, a solid waste administrative analyst for the City of Phoenix. “The oil causes great problems for the quality of the paper, especially the binding of the fibers. It puts in contaminants, so when they do squeeze the water out, it has spots and holes.”

But what about other things regularly found on paper products, like ink? “Most inks are not petroleum-based, so they break down fast. Food is a big problem,” said Gellenbeck.

When recycling, do be mindful of adhesives that may be on the pizza box (like coupons and other stickers), as those are also contaminants. Known as “pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs),” these can ruin a batch of recyclable paper just like as oil or food remains.

Don’t Be a Recycling Sneak

Many people admit to “sneaking” their pizza boxes into their recycling bin along with cardboard boxes and other recyclable products. Unfortunately, this does more harm than good as the contaminated cardboard could ruin the whole recycling batch.

In fact, recycling contamination is a big problem in the United States. The high rate of contamination in our recyclable materials is why, in January 2018, China stopped accepting most of the recyclables the U.S. had been exporting there for decades. Now, communities are scurrying to find enough U.S. recyclers to handle the extra load. In some cases, the materials that people are faithfully placing in their recycling bins are ending up in landfills.

So, What Do I Do?

The easiest remedy for your pizza box quandary is to cut or tear out the soiled portions of the box and trash them. If the entire box is grease-free, the whole box can be recycled with a clean conscience. But make sure it really is clean, without grease, food, or stickers; you don’t want to contaminate a whole load of recycling!

Instead of recycling, you may want to compost the pizza box, although the grease is still problematic.

“Even with oils, you shouldn’t compost [greased cardboard]. It causes rotting, you get more bugs and smell and it’s just not good for the plants,” said Gellenbeck. Note that some communities accept food-contaminated pizza boxes in curbside compost bins. Check with your provider if you’re not sure.

Most importantly, make sure you understand clearly what your local recycling provider accepts so that you avoid contamination in your recycling.

“It all depends on where your processor sends your paper, too,” said Gellenbeck. “If you can keep a particular thing like the food out, the plastics out, all those things that really shouldn’t be there, it would help.”

Find a cardboard recycling solution near you.

Share the info, pin the image below.

[Can pizza boxes be recycled? The answer might surprise you.]

_EDITOR’S NOTE:_ _Originally published on June 15, 2016, this article was updated in July 2018._

_Feature photo courtesy of_ _Marc Wathieu_ _under Creative Commons license_

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question: Why aren't pizza boxes recyclable?

answer: Pizza boxes cannot be recycled because of the grease and oil on the box.

question: What would happen if we tried recycling pizza boxes?

answer: The grease and oil on the pizza boxes harm the recycling process. Paper products are recycled using water and turned into a slurry. Oil and water do not mix and hence the whole batch of recycling becomes useless.

question: Which other items are non-recyclable?

answer: Food-related items such as used napkins, paper plates, and used paper towels are also non-recyclable.

question: How can pizza boxes be recycled?

answer: The best way to recycle pizza boxes would be to cut out all the greasy parts from the box and send the remaining box for recycling.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
Pizza boxes are generally recyclable but the grease and oil on the box make them non-recyclable. These substances do not mix with water which is essential for recycling. Contaminated cardboard could ruin a whole batch of recycling. The remedy to this is to cut out the greasy portion of the box and send the remaining for recycling.
Terry Gellenback suggests using these boxes as compost, but the grease would still be problematic. Oil causes rotting and bring more bugs to your plants.


text:
The CYPRUS GOVERNMENT RAILWAY was a narrow gauge railway network that operated in Cyprus from October 1905 to December 1951. With a total length of , there were 39 stations, stops and halts, the most prominent of which served Famagusta, Prastio Mesaoria, Angastina, Trachoni, Nicosia, Kokkinotrimithia, Morphou, Kalo Chorio and Evrychou. The CGR was closed down due to financial reasons. An extension of the railway which was built to serve the Cyprus Mines Corporation operated until 1974.[1]

History

Background

When the first British High Commissioner, Sir Garnet Wolseley, arrived in Cyprus in 1878, he was keen to construct a railway on the island but the project did not come to fruition for a long time, due to the uncertainty of the length of the British mandate in Cyprus. In July 1903, Frederick Shelford - on behalf of the Crown Agents - submitted a feasibility study for the construction of a railway line that would originate at Famagusta and terminate at Karavostasi via Nicosia and Morphou, at a total cost of £141,526.[2] [1906 map of the railroad]

Construction

The proposal was approved in November 1903 and the earthworks began in May 1904; the existing line at Famagusta harbour was extended South to Varosha by and Section 1 [_Famagusta-Nicosia_, ] was inaugurated on 21 October 1905 by High Commissioner, Sir Charles Anthony King-Harman. The construction of Section 2 [_Nicosia-Morphou_, ] began in July 1905 and was inaugurated was on 31 March 1907. However, three years later, the Railway was already operating at a loss and so an operation study for the CGR was conducted by Bedford Glasier. The study was published in January 1913 and suggested the construction of the terminus at Evrychou. So, the construction of Section 3 [_Morphou-Evrychou_, ] began in November 1913 and it was inaugurated on 14 June 1915.[3]

Motive Power

[Locomotive No1 outside Famagusta Station.]

Locomotives

Summary of the 12 locomotives:[4]

-   No. 1 – 0-6-0T built by Hunslet Engine Company (846 of 1904)
-   Nos. 11–12 – 4-4-0 built by Nasmyth Wilson and Company
-   Nos. 21–23 – 2-6-0 built by Nasmyth Wilson and Company
-   Nos. 31–32 – 2-6-2T built by Nasmyth Wilson and Company
-   Nos. 41–44 – 4-8-4T built by Kitson and Company

Railcars

Summary of the 9 railcar units:[5]

-   6 by D Wickham & Co
-   3 by Drewry Car Co.

Operation and uses

By the time the total of the CGR had been completed, running costs had spiralled to £199,367, which remained constant throughout the operation period of the line. [A CGR ticket.]

The Cyprus Government Railway was used in a number of ways and served both the colonial authorities and the local population. Principal operations were as follows:

-   It served the port of Famagusta, as a freight transfer system.
-   It transferred timber from the Troodos Mountains to towns and cities across Cyprus.
-   It carried freight, ore and minerals on behalf of the Cyprus Mines Corporation.
-   The local railway stations functioned as a place of exchange of goods and services, while some also operated as telephone centres, telegram offices and/or postal offices.
-   CGR trains carried mail, which arrived in Famagusta via the Egyptian Khedivial Mail Line[6] (1912–1939).

The existence of a railway in Cyprus brought many benefits to the population of Cyprus. However, during the first years of its operation, many reportedly viewed the railway as a spectacle to be viewed rather than a means of transportation. Overall, the CGR carried 3,199,934 tons of commercial goods and freight and 7,348,643 passengers during its history.

The various stations were designated by large trilingual (Greek, Turkish and English) white signs. The CGR owned a total of 12 locomotives, 17 coaches and about 100 multi-purpose wagons, 50 of which were purchased from Egypt and Palestine. The CGR employed around 200 people in total.

Railway Stations Halts and Sidings

Harbour Section

-   Varosha, Famagusta
-   Famagusta Harbour

Section 1

-   Varosha, Famagusta
-   English Halt
-   Enkomi Halt
-   Styllos Siding
-   Prastio Station
-   Gaidhouras Halt
-   Pyrga Siding
-   Yenagra Siding
-   Vitsadha Halt
-   Marathovouno Siding
-   Angastina Station
-   Monastir Siding
-   Exometochi Halt
-   Epikho Siding
-   Trakhoni Station
-   Mia Milea Halt
-   Kaimakli Siding
-   Nicosia Station

Section 2

-   Nicosia Station
-   Ayios Dhometios Halt
-   Nicosia Aerodrome Halt
-   Yerolakkos Halt
-   Kokkino Trimithia Station
-   Dhenia Siding
-   Peristerona Siding
-   Kato-Kopia Siding
-   Argaki Siding
-   Morphou Station

Section 3

-   Morphou Station
-   Nikitas Halt
-   Baraji Halt
-   Gaziveran Halt
-   Pendayia Siding
-   Karyotis Junction
-   Kalokhorio Station
-   Skouriotissa Halt
-   Vlasio Halt
-   Evrychou Station

Events

During the 46 years of its operation, the CGR was involved in various events concerned with the modern history of Cyprus:

-   During the Enosis riots in October 1931, of line were torn up, as the railway was regarded as a symbol of British colonial rule.
-   The transportation of Allied troops to and from Famagusta, Nicosia Airport and Xeros during both World Wars.
-   The track was targeted by the Axis powers during World War II.
-   The railway was used for the transportation of a large number of the 50,000 Jewish refugees to Karaolos internment camps, between 1946–1949.

Closure

The line never made a profit and by 1932 the Western terminus station was at Kalokhorio Lefka, while from 1948 onwards it only reached Nicosia aerodrome. After World War II the ramshackle equipment and competition from the improved road network led the Government to the decision to definitely terminate the CGR. The last train departed from Nicosia Station at 14:57 on 31 December 1951 and arrived at Famagusta at 16:38. The process of dismantling lasted up to March 1953.[7] After an auction was announced in _Cyprus Gazette_, 10 of the 12 locomotives, the tracks and part of the rolling stock were sold to the company MEYER NEWMAN & CO, for the price of £65,626. Locomotive 1 was preserved as a monument outside Famagusta Station. Most of the former CGR employees were re-employed in state services and semi-governmental organisations. Some wagons were bought by locals, acquiring novel uses, while the equipment was distributed amongst seven governmental departments. The stations were either demolished or turned into police stations (_Angastina_,[8] _Kokkini Trimithia_) or Public Works Department warehouses (_Famagusta_, _Nicosia_); Morphou Station became a grain storehouse, while at Evrychou it operated as a sanitary centre and a forest worker dormitory.

Heritage

A large part of the Nicosia-Famagusta motorway was built along the former railway track. Engine 1 can now be seen in front of the station building in Famagusta. Wagon 152 was restored and placed in the linear park in Kaimakli in 1995, then after a restoration it was moved to an exhibition featuring CGR relics in the Cultural Center of Laiki Bank in Nicosia. After a recent restoration work in 2012, this van together with a hand-powered trolley are now under a new shelter at Evrychou station with informative posters about its past and present. Evrychou station and its surroundings were rebuilt to become the Cyprus Railway Museum, with a total of about of new tracks laid in 2010–2012, in a Y-shape, almost with the original gauge. The museum finally opened in November, 2014. Tracks (more precisely: non-continuous portions of tracks) have also been laid in the Kaimakli area, but with different gauges: about 280 m with a 1380 mm and 18 m with a 595 mm gauge from the Agiou Ilaririonos street to the West and to the East directions, respectively. There are also posters with old pictures and time-tables exhibited along this linear park in Kaimakli. In Agios Dometios, where another short portion of the former railway line near Nicosia lies to the South from the Green Line after 1974, part of the railway line has recently become a linear park and a multi-purpose centre.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] Cyprus Narrow Gauge Hugh Ballantine

[5] The Story of the Cyprus Government Railway B S Turner

[6] Basic info and timetable images from Khedivial Mail Line http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/kml.htm

[7]

[8]

title: Cyprus Government Railway

question: Why was the Cyprus government line closed

answer: The line never made a profit and by 1932 the Western terminus station was at Kalokhorio Lefka, while from 1948 onwards it only reached Nicosia aerodrome. After World War II the ramshackle equipment and competition from the improved road network led the Government to the decision to definitely terminate the CGR.


text:
The 2019 CYPRUS RAPE ALLEGATION CASE was a high-profile case of alleged gang rape in Cyprus. In July 2019, a British woman on holiday in Ayia Napa alleged she had been gang raped by twelve Israeli tourists. The Israeli men were subsequently arrested and investigated over the allegation by the Cyprus Police, but they were subsequently released without charge and the woman was charged for making a false allegation. In January 2020, the woman was convicted of “public mischief” in a Cypriot court and received a suspended sentence. The woman has maintained that she was pressured to retract her statement, something contested by Cypriot authorities. The case triggered intense international scrutiny.

Alleged crime and police investigation

During the 2019 summer break, the 19-year old British woman had traveled to Pambos Napa Rocks resort in the Cypriot resort town of Ayia Napa on a working holiday organised by the British tourism company Summer Takeover.[1][2] On 17 July 2019, the British teenager filed a report with the Cyprus Police in Ayia Napa claiming that she had been raped by several Israeli youths in her hotel room. The following day, the Cypriot authorities arrested 12 Israeli youths, aged between 15 and 22 years, for eight days. The police investigation was led by Detective Sergeant Marios Christou. Police questioned the suspects and took DNA samples from all twelve. Police found five used condoms and thirteen condom wrappers in the room.[3]

The woman was examined by Cypriot state pathologist Dr. Sophocles Sophocleus, who found no evidence of gang rape. He subsequently testified that he found a few light bruises on her thighs and scratches on her legs but in his opinion, they were not consistent with gang rape. He also examined the woman's vagina together with a gynecologist and reported finding no lesions or other injuries.[4] However, private forensic pathologist Dr. Marios Matsakis, who was hired by her family to participate in the case, reported that there was clear evidence of gang rape. Later testifying for her defense at trial, he stated he found bruising across her legs, arms, and buttocks from photographs of her injuries shown in court, claiming that he identified 35 separate bruises, and that the injuries left “no doubt” of gang rape.[5][6] [7] He also criticized Sophocleus for allegedly improperly investigating her.

On 25 July, five of the youths were released due to a lack of DNA evidence connecting them to the alleged incident.[8] Seven remained detained. In addition to the allegation of gang rape, they were suspected of conspiracy to commit a crime, including those whose DNA was not found on the complainant.[9] Following DNA testing, police linked three of the detained to the case and also found three more DNA samples not matching any of the accused. Police suspected that three Israelis had participated but had subsequently returned to Israel, and prepared to send a team to Israel to work in coordination with the Israel Police and Israeli travel agencies to identify them.[10] On 27 July, it was reported that three of the suspects were set to be charged, with police likely to release at least two other suspects. There were conflicting reports over whether or not police would offer immunity from prosecution to one or two of the suspects in exchange for information on other suspects still being sought. Police said they had taken statements from 36 witnesses and that they were planning to interview 20 more.[11]

However, the investigation turned toward the British woman. According to an attorney for some of the Israelis, they were able to provide convincing evidence of their innocence.[12] On 27 July, the British teenager visited a police station to give a statement but was instead accused of lying about allegations. Following eight hours of questioning without a lawyer, the woman signed a statement retracting her rape allegations:

  The report I did on the 17th of July 2019 that I was raped at ayia napa was not the truth. The truth is that I wasnt raped and everything that happened in that appartment was with my consent. The reason I made the statement with the fake report is because I did not know they were recording & humiliating me that night I discovered them recording me doing sexual intercourse and I felt embarrassed as I want to appologise, and say I made a mistake.[13][14]

The defence has contended that the defendant made the statement while under duress. Cypriot authorities charged her with “giving a false statement over an imaginary offence.” On 28 July, the remaining Israeli suspects were released from custody.[15] Cypriot Police claimed that the woman had got angry when her alleged attackers had filmed her having consensual sex with some of the alleged attackers and alleged she had been raped. Nir Yaslovitch, a lawyer representing several of the Israeli youths, said that his clients would seek legal damages against her for false rape allegations.[16][17]

Legal proceedings

On 30 July, the woman appeared at the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, where she was charged with acts of “public mischief” and remanded into custody for eight days.[18] On 6 August 2019, the defendant repudiated her retraction statement, claiming that she had been coerced into producing it by the Cypriot Police. Her lawyer Andreas Pittadjis resigned due to a “serious disagreement” with his client regarding her line of defence.[19] The trial judge Tonia Antoniou adjourned the case until 19 August to give the woman time to find a new lawyer. He also remanded the defendant into custody. The defendant was supported by the legal aid group Justice Abroad, which supported her claims that she had been coerced into producing a retraction statement.[20]

On 27 August, the defendant pleaded not guilty to falsely claiming she was gang-raped and was bailed by a court on condition that she visited a police station in Nicosia three times a week before her trial.[21][22] The woman was represented by British lawyer Lewis Power QC and two Cypriot lawyers, who were supported by Justice Abroad. The defendant had reportedly spent a month at the Central Jail of Nicosia, where she had reportedly shared a cramped cell with nine women.[23][24] Michael Polak, the Director of Justice International and a member of the defence team, claimed that the defendant's interrogation violated the Constitution of Cyprus and European Union human rights legislation.[25]

On 2 October, the defendant's trial began. While the defence maintained that the woman had been raped and had been coerced into issuing a retraction, the prosecution insisted that the police had acted properly throughout the investigation. Judge Michalis Papathanasiou adjourned the defendant's trial by two weeks to allow the defence to produce new evidence including text messages and images circulated by the alleged attackers to support their contention that she had been raped. The defendant was also reportedly suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder due to her legal ordeal.[26][27]

The teenager's trial resumed on 15 October 2019.[28] On 28 November, the trial judge Michalis Papathansidi rejected the defence's claim of a forced confession and defended the police investigators who had conducted investigation. He ruled the defendant an “unreliable witness”, claiming that she had provided the police with “contradictory, inconsistent, exaggerated and inflated” versions of the night of the alleged crime. The judge also dismissed the defence witnesses as unreliable and rejected the testimony of expert witnesses from the UK, including a forensic linguistic expert's testimony that the woman's confession was unlikely to have been written by a native English speaker. The trial proceeded with the testimony of police officers who had spoken to her on the night she had reported the alleged sexual assaults.[29][30]

On 3 December 2019, the court heard the defendant's testimony, who maintained that she had been gang-raped by the Israeli youths and that she had been coerced by police into dropping the rape allegations. The case concluded on 6 December with testimony by defence witness, well-known pathologist Marios Matsakis.[31] On 12 December, the defendant was told that she would have to remain in Cyprus over Christmas, with the final judgment expected on 30 December. On 30 December, the court found the defendant guilty of causing public mischief with her sentencing date set for 7 January 2020. In response, the defence said that they would appeal the verdict.[32][33]

On 4 January 2020, the Famagusta District Court released their 70-page verdict defending their guilty verdict in response to criticism of the court's handling of the case from both Cyprus and abroad.[34] On 7 January, Judge Papathanasiou sentenced the young woman to a four month suspended sentence, with the defendant being allowed to leave Cyprus.[35][36] In response, the defence announced that they would be appealing the conviction at the Supreme Court of Cyprus, a process expected to take several years.[37][38][39][40]

Reactions

The Ayia Napa rape allegation case attracted considerable media coverage and commentary in the British and international news media.[41][42][43]

Israeli youths

Following their release in late July, several of the Israeli teenagers were greeted by their cheering families at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. According to media reports, the boys were dressed in kippahs and they and their male relatives popped champagne, let off a confetti cannon and chanted “_Am Yisrael Chai_” (“the people of Israel lives”) and “the Brit is a whore.” This heroes' welcome was criticized by several Israeli journalists, social media users, and parents for engaging in unethical behaviour including filming their sexual encounter with their alleged victim, which is illegal under Israeli law banning “revenge porn.”[44][45][46]

Defendant's parents and human rights activists

On 9 August 2019, the British teenager's parents established a GoFundMe campaign to raise £15,000 (US$18,000) to cover their daughter's legal fees following the resignation of her first lawyer Andreas Pittadjis. Aryeh Fraser, an Israeli man living in Miami, had donated £7,500 (US$9,000) to the GoFundMe campaign, describing it as a humanitarian donation.[47] By 3 January 2020, the teenager's GoFundMe campaign had reach £120,000, exceeding its £105,000 target.[48]

In October 2019, Michael Polak, the director of the legal aid organisation Justice Abroad and a member of the defence team, criticised the Cypriot Police's handling of the investigation into the rape allegations including allegedly coercing a retraction from the defendant without a lawyer present and not making any audio or video recordings of the defendant's interrogation.[49][50] He also criticised the Cypriot Police for failing to download data from the alleged Israeli attackers' 11 mobile phones; the Police had downloaded videos from five of the Israeli youths' phones but had neglected to collect text messages and social media data.[51]

On 14 October, several human rights and feminist groups urged the Cypriot attorney general Costas Clerides to dismiss the case against the British teenager. Susana Pavlou, the Director of the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, criticized the brutal ordeal experienced by the British teenager and her family.[52][53] Several Cypriot and Israeli feminists and women's rights activists also picketed the sentencing of the defendant on 7 January 2020, criticizing Judge Papathanasiou for victim blaming and siding with the alleged rapists.[54][55][56]

Governmental responses

The United Kingdom Government has also raised concerns about the fairness of the teenager's trial in Cyprus. In response to the British teenager's guilty verdict, a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson issued a statement on 30 December 2019 that “the UK is seriously concerned about the fair trial guarantees in this deeply distressing case and we will be raising the issue with the Cypriot authorities.”[57][58][59][60] The British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also stated that the UK Government was examining guidelines for British tourists to Cyprus in light of the rape allegation case.[61] Raab later welcomed the British teenager's suspended jail term sentence but ruled our revising British tourism guidelines to Cyprus.[62]

In early January 2020, there were media reports that the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades was considering pardoning the British teenager prior to her sentencing on 7 January.[63][64][65]

Boycott Cyprus campaign

In January 2020, a campaign was launched on the social media platform Twitter with the hashtag #boycottcyprus.[66][67] On 1 January, the British teenager's mother expressed support for a boycott campaign against Cyprus, stating that the country was unsafe for tourists and condemning her daughter's guilty verdict as a miscarriage of justice.[68] On 6 January, protesters expressing support for the teenager picketed the Cypriot High Commission in London. In addition, solidarity protests with the teenager were also planned in Nicosia and Tel Aviv to time with the teenager's sentencing.[69]

On 3 January 2020, Summer Takeaways, the tour company behind the working holiday in which the British defendant had been allegedly gang raped, announced that the company would no longer provide services to Ayia Napa. The company removed all references to Ayia Napa on its website and offered refunds to customers who had booked for the upcoming 2020 summer tour to the destination.[70][71]

Media commentary

_The Independent_{{'s}} columnist Harriet Hall opined that the case reflected a long tradition of ignoring or punishing female rape victims.[72]

Notes and references

Category:2019 in Cyprus Category:2019 in international relations Category:2019 in Israel Category:2010s crimes in Cyprus Category:Cyprus–Israel relations Category:Cyprus–United Kingdom relations Category:Gang rape in Europe Category:Israel–United Kingdom relations Category:July 2019 crimes Category:July 2019 events in Europe Category:Rape in the 2010s Category:Sexual misconduct allegations

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[7] https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-british-woman-plans-tappeal-verdict-she-lied-about-cyprus-gang-rape-20191230-6evewm2stbhhlbt42wujlx7vhu-story.html

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[72]

title: 2019 Cyprus rape allegation case

question: What does the text say about the American tourists?

question: Summarize the main news event.

answer: In July 2019, a 19-year old British woman on holiday in Ayia Napa alleged she was gang-raped by twelve Israeli tourists. The Israeli men were arrested and investigated by the Cyprus Police but released when evidence from the police station showed that the woman retracted her statement of being gang-raped, saying that it was consensual and she was just angry because the men were recording the sexual encounter on their phones. In a strange reversal, the woman was now charged for making a false allegation, but she maintains that she was pressured into retracting her original statement, which Cypriot authorities deny. The Cyprus Police also interrogated her without a lawyer, which is illegal. In January 2020, the woman was unbelievably convicted of "public mischief" in a Cypriot court and received a suspended sentence, while the Israeli men walked Scott-free. The high-profile case triggered intense international scrutiny, especially from humanitarian, justice, and feminist groups. Even the British Government got involved in some capacity, raising concerns about the fairness of the trial in Cyprus and examining guidelines for British tourists in Cyprus.

question: Summarize the views of the opposing sides.

answer: The 19-year old British woman alleged she was gang-raped by twelve Israeli tourists while on a working holiday in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. She said they took videos of the entire ordeal. There was enough evidence for a conviction, including used condoms and the actual videos and text messages on the suspects' phones, but the Cypriot authorities bungled the investigation by not collecting the evidence or properly checking the victim for the rape. The police also allegedly forced the British woman to retract her previous statement that she was gang-raped. Her statement was forcibly retracted without a lawyer present and without the police recording it. The Israeli tourists counter that the sex was consensual and claim they were innocent. Their lawyer pitched the entire defense on the British woman's retracted statement. When they were exonerated, they received a hero's welcome from their families in Israel.


text:
BY SUMANT SINHA
This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos, Switzerland, that will take place during January 23-26 comes with a very different background from the last few years. For one, 2017 turned out to be a much better year for the global economy than had been anticipated.

Global growth was a healthy 3.5% and well distributed across the world. Stock markets were on a tear, including here in India, clocking returns not seen since the halcyon pre-financial crisis days. While there has been a lot of talk about ‘economic nationalism’, nothing fundamentally changed in the global order.

The conversation at Davos is likely to be more optimistic than it has been in the last few years. This year’s theme is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’.

The first subagenda, the ‘Global Agenda’, seeks to support efforts to improve global governance mechanisms and advance major multilateral processes, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The ‘Geopolitical Agenda’ seeks to improve the adaptation to change by global leaders. The ‘Economic Agenda’ will focus on supporting sustainable and inclusive economic development, while the ‘Regional Agenda’ will examine the social and economic transformations occurring across the world.

In the ‘Industry and Business Agenda’, participants will contribute to the shaping of new industry ecosystems and help industry and government leaders prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Finally, in the ‘Future Agenda’, attendees will share ideas, innovations and discoveries that will have a global impact.

About 3,000 business leaders, 350 high-ranking officials, including 60 Heads of State and Government, will participate in the four-day forum. The presence of US President Donald Trump has created unprecedented media attention. There will also be French President Emmanuel Macron.

For India, this year will be even more important due to the participation of the Indian PM after 20 years. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there are two clear agenda points. The first is to continue to aggressively promote India as an investment destination. We need much more investment, and what better forum than Davos with its high concentration of global CEOs, investors and influencers to make a pitch.

The ‘Make in India’ campaign needs to be re-energised for better results. There is much for the PM to tout as far as his economic track record is concerned, not least of which is the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the sound macro fundamentals, the resolution of non-performing assets (NPAs), the structural reforms of specific sectors, and the positive outlook for faster growth. India continues to be the fastest growing large economy in the world with increasing consumer demand.

The PM will need to nudge foreign investors further in that direction. At Davos, he has to be India’s marketing chief. The second agenda for Modi will be to lay out India’s position in this ever-changing world, and his personal views as the prime representative of a sixth of humanity. Are we willing to shelve the shibboleths of the past – India’s ‘socialist’ orientation, the vestiges of our ‘non-alignment’, our aloofness from global trade and investment, and our ‘difficulties’ in doing business -- and boldly take the lead, especially as the US vacates leadership space and China rushes in to fill the vacuum?

In such a context, the world will be comparing and contrasting the positions of Xi Jinping from last year’s forum -- where the Chinese premier appeared willing to take on leadership for an open global order and made quite a splash in doing so -- with the vision that Modi will present.

The PM is likely to use the Davos platform to state India’s views on this emerging new world order. India has also taken a strong domestic position on climate change. But combating climate change needs constant leadership and the world needs to be shepherded along in that direction. India can take the lead in this area and Modi can put his weight behind it. So this year, Davos will move the global agenda forward.

_THE WRITER IS CHAIRMAN-CEO, RENEW POWER AND WILL BE AT DAVOS 2018_

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)

question: What does the text say about the World Economic Forum?

answer: The meeting this year will be held in Davos, Switzerland from January 23rd to the 26th. It is expected to have a more optimistic tone than previous years, as 2017 turned out to be a better year for the global economy than anticipated. The theme this year is "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World," and it consists of several subagendas. The Forum will host 3,000 business leaders, and 350 high-ranking officials, including 60 Heads of State and Government. Among those officials will be US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Indian PM Narendra Modi.

question: What does the text say about the Forum in 2016?