snip

While Belgium will be losing a splendid piece of nature that juts into the Meuse river dividing the two nations, it will also unburden itself of a jurisdictional nightmare that developed over time as the river meandered to turn the portion of land belonging to Belgium — about 15 soccer fields’ worth — into a peninsula linked only to the Netherlands.

Over time, the area was rumoured to be increasingly lawless, a haven for drug dealers and illicit sexual escapades. Then, three years ago, passersby discovered a headless body. “They alerted Dutch authorities, who told them it was Belgian territory,” said Jean-Francois Duchesne, police commissaire of the Lower Meuse region.

In short, the Dutch could not go there because it was Belgian, and Belgian police and judicial authorities found it tough to get there. They are not allowed to cross into the Netherlands without permission and the peninsula had no proper landing zone for boats or equipment coming in by water.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/30/belgium-and-the-netherlands-exchange-land-because-it-makes-sense

A headless body turned up 3 years ago and they couldn't seem to come to a logical solution, like letting the Belgian police cross through Dutch territory to investigate. Or the Belgians couldn't build a useful dock.
Though this is a good solution and probably, in the long term, best for all parties involved

"Nine candidates who avoided military service bluster about how tough they'll be using other people's kids as fodder."

source:
found it on facebook

Ukip leader Nigel Farage released a statement saying Trump had “gone too far”.

When UKIP thinks you're too much, you definitely have issues

WNCN just released the information that Katie Brown, aka Katharine F. Lemansky, 45, has been arrested in Cary, North Carolina. The image of the dog with its muzzle taped up was posted on Friday and, as reported by this Examiner, went viral shortly afterwards.

Ms. Lemansky now faces a Class 1 Misdemeanor Cruelty to Animals charge in Cary, where she was staying with the dog. The charge carries a fine and up to 150 days in jail. The South Daytona Police Department has been overwhelmed with requests, text, emails, and phonecalls to bring Ms. Lemansky to justice. Cary Police were able to track her down after being alerted by South Daytona police.

It is reported that she must appear in a Wake County court on December 14. The Cary police state that their "animal control officers physically examined the dogs found them to be very well cared for, which is why we did not and could not remove them from the owner. The dogs are current on their shots, spayed and microchipped. They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings. And there were no signs of injury to the dog's muzzle, not even detectable hair loss."

link:
http://www.examiner.com/article/arrested-nc-katie-brown-who-posted-picture-of-dog-with-taped-muzzle

A CBC investigation into Canada's two largest coffee companies has led to more revelations about poor environmental practices at Starbucks and Tim Hortons.

The stories come on the heels of a CBC Marketplace investigation, revealing how paper cups that customers tossed into store recycling bins at Toronto Starbucks and Tim Hortons were actually being thrown into the garbage, not recycled at all.

snip

It said, "Upon hearing of some stores that had not disposed of recyclable material properly, we immediately conducted a review of all our stores across the country, and are taking steps to ensure and confirm that all our stores are delivering on our recycling commitment."

But he says when he and other store managers asked a district manager and an area facilities service manager a year ago what private company was supposed to be picking up the recycling, they were told to "move on to something more important."

link:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-starbucks-recycling-garbage-1.3304770

from the reichwing, the police groupies and their enablers

Theresa May will publicly criticise claims made by Britain’s most senior police officer that a rise in knife crime is linked to falls in stop and search, branding them as a “kneejerk reaction” and “false”.
In a combative speech on Thursday May will also criticise the race record of the police in England and Wales, saying they are too white, with not one of the 43 forces looking like the communities they serve.

snip

Addressing the conference of the National Black Police Association, the home secretary will say: “Properly targeted, stop and search will actually help reduce knife crime. It will save police time to focus on prevention and work with gangs, and it will improve the relationship between the police and the public on which all of your work rests.

“We must not jettison all that good work for the sake of a kneejerk reaction on the back of a false link.”

link:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/21/theresa-may-criticises-police-chief-bernard-hogan-howe-stop-search-race-record

I don't like almost everything Theresa May says. But, this I do agree with and would love to hear it in the US

An actor slit his throat on stage when the prop knife for his suicide scene turned out to be a real one.

Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the "special effect". Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests.

Things went wrong at Vienna's Burgtheater as Hoevels' character went to "kill himself" in the final scene of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart, about Mary Queen of Scots, on Saturday night

snip

After emergency treatment at a hospital, Hoevels declared that the show must go on, and returned to the stage on Sunday night with a bandage tied around his neck, ready to once again meet his mock demise.

link:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/11/actor-slits-throat

Thank god the guy survived. Then he's back on stage

Peregrine falcons were once considered a threatened species, and while their numbers have recovered since the 1970s, they are still an uncommon sight.

So when staff members at Charles Sturt University's Orange campus in NSW noticed a pair of the raptors taking an interest in the campus grounds, they built a residence for them.

They constructed a nesting box in a tall water tower with the birds' safety in mind, down to non-toxic screws.

The box was fitted with CCTV cameras, to study the home life of these powerful birds of prey.

This week saw three new arrivals into the nest, with the FalconCam catching the close-up view of peregrine falcons hatching.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-11/falconcam-captures-moment-peregrine-falcon-hatches/6843970

Source: guardian

Updated as new information is given


From the Committee


The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/oct/09/nobel-peace-prize-2015-awarded-angela-merkel-pope-francis-john-kerry-live-updates

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For the full citation from the Nobel Committee

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2015/press.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=twitter_tweet

Please accept Putin.
Oh, God please accept.
I wanna see Christie try and wiggle his way out of it

BTW Christie, I don't like Putin, but he would kick your ass and probably not break a sweat

I am tired of the GOP clowns trying to out Trump, Trump.

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/10/chris-christie-throws-down-vladimir-putin