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Monday, August 29, 2016

Home Secretary Rejects Calls To Scrap Calais Border Deal

The Home Secretary will bluntly reject calls to scrap the border deal between Britain and France when she meets her French counterpart in Paris later.
Amber Rudd is meeting interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve for scheduled talks on co-operation on counter-terrorism and security following the spate of terror attacks in France.
But border security has been propelled to the top of the agenda following calls by senior French politicians, led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, to move checks on migrants from Calais to the UK.
Mr Sarkozy, who hopes to make a comeback in the French presidential election next year, said the controversial "Jungle" migrant camp should be shut down and moved to Britain.
But Ms Rudd, who succeeded Theresa May in July, will tell the President that Britain will not agree to renegotiating the border agreement between the two countries.
A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News: "We remain committed to working together to protect our shared border in Calais and to maintain the juxtaposed controls. 
"The French government have repeatedly made it clear that removing the juxtaposed controls would not be in the interests of France. 
"The French President reiterated this again at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister on 21 July.
"We firmly believe in the established principle, enshrined in the Dublin Regulation, that those in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they enter."
At their meeting in Paris back in July, Mrs May said she had won a pledge from the President on the existing deal despite the UK's vote to leave the EU.
President Francois Hollande agreed, and said the agreement was useful to both countries. 
"We consider it as our duty ... to apply it and also to improve it," he added.
Under the Treaty of Le Touquet, British immigration officials check passports in Calais and their French counterparts do the same in Dover.
A source close to Mrs Rudd told The Daily Telegraph that discussing an end to this agreement was a "complete non-starter". 
The problem for the British government is that if President Hollande loses the presidential election next year, the existing treaties and agreements could be in jeopardy.
Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said: "Axing the treaty altogether would be a disaster for France and Britain. 
"It would simply force the ferries and Tunnel to become border guards - meaning higher ticket prices and longer queues."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, added that the crisis in Calais was due to the failure of successive French presidents to deal with the issue of illegal migration - and branded Mr Sarkozy's proposal "irresponsible".
The former president's controversial call has also provoked a furious attack from Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats.
He claimed Mr Sarkozy was "trying to grub around the gutter for votes to win his presidential primary", adding: "It won't work and trying to mimic the nasty rhetoric of Marine Le Pen is not a recipe for success. He just looks like a hypocrite."

British Backpacker Tom Jackson Stabbed In Australia Dies From His Injuries

A British man who was stabbed in Australia as he tried to save another backpacker has died from his injuries, police have said.
Tom Jackson sustained critical head injuries when he intervened as fellow Briton Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death in north Queensland last Tuesday.
Queensland Police confirmed the 30-year-old passed away in Townsville Hospital.
His father, who had flown from the UK to be by his bedside last week, said in a statement before his son's death: "There are many and varied reasons why we are, and always will be, immensely proud of Tom.
"His actions in response to this horrific attack only add to that sense of pride."
Mia Ayliffe-Chung
Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death at a hostel in north Queensland
Detectives plan to upgrade a charge of attempted murder against suspect Smail Ayad, a 29-year-old Frenchman, when he next appears in court at the end of October.
Ayad also faces another count of attempted murder, one count of serious animal cruelty and 12 counts of serious assault. He remains in custody.
The alleged knifeman is said to have shouted the Arabic phrase for "God is greatest" - both during the attack and while being arrested - but police said there was no evidence he had been radicalised or was motivated by politics.
Reports Ayad was "obsessed" with Miss Ayliffe-Chung, a 21-year-old from Derbyshire, are being investigated.
Flowers left at the backpacker hostel where the killing took place
Flowers have been left at the scene of the attack
Ms Ayliffe-Chung was only a few days into a three-month trip working on a farm when she was attacked, according to social media.
Her boyfriend, Jamison Stead, said she was a "beautiful soul" who had "fallen in love with the country and its people".
Writing in a blog on Monday for The Independent, her mother, Rosie Aycliffe, said: "At the moment the only way I can really cope with our loss is to think Mia's time had come and what happened in that hostel on Tuesday was her fate."
She revealed her plans to scatter her daughter's ashes around the world in places she will never discover.

British Backpacker Tom Jackson Stabbed In Australia Dies From His Injuries

A British man who was stabbed in Australia as he tried to save another backpacker has died from his injuries, police have said.
Tom Jackson sustained critical head injuries when he intervened as fellow Briton Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death in north Queensland last Tuesday.
Queensland Police confirmed the 30-year-old passed away in Townsville Hospital.
His father, who had flown from the UK to be by his bedside last week, said in a statement before his son's death: "There are many and varied reasons why we are, and always will be, immensely proud of Tom.
"His actions in response to this horrific attack only add to that sense of pride."
Mia Ayliffe-Chung
Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death at a hostel in north Queensland
Detectives plan to upgrade a charge of attempted murder against suspect Smail Ayad, a 29-year-old Frenchman, when he next appears in court at the end of October.
Ayad also faces another count of attempted murder, one count of serious animal cruelty and 12 counts of serious assault. He remains in custody.
The alleged knifeman is said to have shouted the Arabic phrase for "God is greatest" - both during the attack and while being arrested - but police said there was no evidence he had been radicalised or was motivated by politics.
Reports Ayad was "obsessed" with Miss Ayliffe-Chung, a 21-year-old from Derbyshire, are being investigated.
Flowers left at the backpacker hostel where the killing took place
Flowers have been left at the scene of the attack
Ms Ayliffe-Chung was only a few days into a three-month trip working on a farm when she was attacked, according to social media.
Her boyfriend, Jamison Stead, said she was a "beautiful soul" who had "fallen in love with the country and its people".
Writing in a blog on Monday for The Independent, her mother, Rosie Aycliffe, said: "At the moment the only way I can really cope with our loss is to think Mia's time had come and what happened in that hostel on Tuesday was her fate."
She revealed her plans to scatter her daughter's ashes around the world in places she will never discover.

Ice Road Truckers' Star Darrell Ward Dies In Plane Crash

One of the stars of reality TV show "Ice Road Truckers" has been killed in a plane crash in Montana.
Darrell Ward, 52, died after the four-seater plane he was travelling in crashed southeast of the city of Missoula.
Local sheriff Captain Bill Burt said it appeared the pilot had been trying to land at a small airstrip but "something went drastically wrong".
The plane went through some trees, witnesses said, hitting some of them as it did so. 
Captain Burt said the pilot had bought the Cessna 182 on Friday.
A statement on Darrell Ward's Facebook page said he had been attending The Great American Truck Show in Dallas before flying to Montana.
It said Ward had been due to begin filming "a pilot for his new documentary style show involving the recovery of plane wrecks".
"An investigation is ongoing and more information will be made available at a later time."
Paying tribute, the statement added: "The things Darrell loved most were his family, including his kids and grand-kids & trucking." 
Ice Road Truckers, which is made by the History Channel, features lorry drivers battling freezing conditions to deliver supplies to remote areas of Canada and Alaska. 
The show - which has attracted around 900,000 viewers per episode on Channel 5 in the UK - has run for 10 seasons.
Ward was told over the weekend that he had a part in season 11, which is due to begin filming next winter.

Lightning Strike Kills More Than 300 Wild Reindeer In Norway

A lightning strike has killed more than 300 wild reindeer in Norway, in what officials described as an unusually large natural disaster.
Aerial footage shows reindeer carcasses scattered across a small area on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau.
The footage was released by the Norwegian Environment Agency, which said 323 animals were killed, including 70 calves.
Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen said it is not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning strikes, "but we have not heard about such numbers before."
Aerial footage shows the scale of the destruction
Aerial footage shows the scale of the destruction
He said reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could explain how so many were killed at once during Friday's storm.
Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardangervidda plateau as the seasons change.
It is the second time this month that a large group of animals has been killed by lightning.
On 25 August, 38 sheep died after they were hit by lightning in the Indian district of Kanchipuram.

Lightning Strike Kills More Than 300 Wild Reindeer In Norway

A lightning strike has killed more than 300 wild reindeer in Norway, in what officials described as an unusually large natural disaster.
Aerial footage shows reindeer carcasses scattered across a small area on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau.
The footage was released by the Norwegian Environment Agency, which said 323 animals were killed, including 70 calves.
Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen said it is not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning strikes, "but we have not heard about such numbers before."
Aerial footage shows the scale of the destruction
Aerial footage shows the scale of the destruction
He said reindeer tend to stay very close to each other in bad weather, which could explain how so many were killed at once during Friday's storm.
Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardangervidda plateau as the seasons change.
It is the second time this month that a large group of animals has been killed by lightning.
On 25 August, 38 sheep died after they were hit by lightning in the Indian district of Kanchipuram.

50Naira Help Initiative: Lunches Social Enterprise


50Naira Help Initiative is an NGO created with the sole intension of improving the lives of Africans, using education, health and sanitation related projects of which an example is the WATER UP AFRICA project.
The WATER UP AFRICA project was born out of deep concern that over 600,000 Africans die annually from water related diseases, of which over 160,000 are Nigerians. This project seeks to stop the increase of such statistics by providing access to clean water across various communities in Africa.

Using Nigeria as a pilot country, WATER UP AFRICA aims to create access to drinkable water for about 1.2 Million Nigerians over the next 18 months. In the past four weeks, WATER UP AFRICA has visited 7 communities across various states in Nigeria namely; Goningora, Kakuri, Rigasa in Kaduna State, Madalla and Suleja in Niger State, Akwanga and Chun-Jah in Nassarawa State. According to Mr Andrew Lamai the pioneer of the project, so far in some of these communities we have been able to sink new boreholes, repair damaged ones and also train the locals on how to maintain and repair these boreholes, while work is still ongoing in other communities.


To ensure the sustainability of Water Up Africa, a social enterprise was launched on the 26th of August, 2016: WATER UP AFRICA TABLE WATER. To be part of the solution to the water epidemic in Africa, Water Up Africa calls upon Africans and our partners to be part of this social enterprise. Mr Andrew Lamai in a press briefing said “The social enterprise gives Africans the privilege to help give 10 children access to clean water just by purchasing one of the table water as the proceeds will be used to finance the project.''