THE NEW YORK TIMES: Fewer babies’ cries. More abandoned homes. Toward the middle of this century, as deaths start to exceed births, changes will come that are hard to fathom.
All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.
Maternity wards are already shutting down in Italy. Ghost cities are appearing in northeastern China. Universities in South Korea can’t find enough students, and in Germany, hundreds of thousands of properties have been razed, with the land turned into parks.
Like an avalanche, the demographic forces — pushing toward more deaths than births — seem to be expanding and accelerating. Though some countries continue to see their populations grow, especially in Africa, fertility rates are falling nearly everywhere else. Demographers now predict that by the latter half of the century or possibly earlier, the global population will enter a sustained decline for the first time. » | Damien Cave, Emma Bubola and Choe Sang-Hun | Saturday, May 22, 2021
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query avalanche. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query avalanche. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Monday, August 12, 2013
Dutch Prince Johan Friso Dies After Skiing Accident Coma
Dutch prince Johan Friso, who went into a coma following a skiing accident in February 2012, has died, the government said on Monday.
"Prince Friso died from complications that arose as a consequence of the brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation following his skiing accident," the government said in a statement.
The prince, 44, was skiing off-piste in Lech, Austria, when he was buried in an avalanche. Rescuers pulled him from the snow, unconscious, 20 minutes later. He was resuscitated at the scene and flown to hospital, but remained in a coma for months.
Before the accident, Friso, the second of the former Queen Beatrix's three sons, had sometimes been known as "Prince Brilliant". He studied at UC Berkeley, the Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam, graduating from the Dutch universities cum laude, with degrees in engineering and economics. He later earned an MBA at France's prestigious INSEAD school of business. » | Agencies, Amsterdam | Monday, August 12, 2013
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR: Décès du prince Johan Friso d'Orange-Nassau » | Thomas Escritt; Anthony Deutsch, Clémence Apetogbor pour le service français | lundi 12 août 2013
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Prinz Johan Friso ist tot: Der niederländische Prinz Johan Friso ist gestorben. Der Bruder von König Willem-Alexander war im Februar 2012 beim Skifahren in Österreich von einer Lawine erfasst worden. Seither lag er im Koma. » | Von Michael Stabenow, Brüssel | Montag, 08. August 2013
VIDEO hier abspielen.
Dutch Royal Family Statement »
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Tens of thousands of angry conservatives converge on Washington to denounce the president's healthcare proposals and more, echoing Rep. Joe Wilson's accusations.
Reporting from Washington - Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, airing a wide range of grievances rooted in a shared sentiment: seething anger at President Obama and his far-reaching agenda.
Led by a fife and drum corps in period costumes, the demonstrators filled Pennsylvania Avenue and swarmed the Capitol grounds with a sea of bobbing placards and hand-lettered signs that spelled out a catalog of dissent.
There were antiabortion protesters and term-limit advocates. Critics of financial bailouts and the federal investigation into CIA interrogation techniques. Marchers who were worried about rekindling inflation and upset about the soaring national debt. Pickets opposed to Obama's healthcare reform plan and challenging the legitimacy of his election.
"Is This Russia?" one sign said. "Traitors Terrorists Run Our Government," read another. "Don't blame me. I voted for The 'American,' " a third stated.
The protest -- touted by organizers as the largest-ever outpouring of political conservatives -- was organized by a loose-knit coalition of anti-tax, small-government proponents, and widely promoted by sympathetic voices in the blogosphere and on TV and talk radio. Park police declined to provide an official crowd estimate.
The rally was embraced, after some hesitation, by congressional Republicans, some of whom were leery of associating with the more incendiary elements of Obama's opposition.
"The coming weeks and months may well set the course for this nation for a generation," said Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, the No. 3 GOP House leader, voicing the apocalyptic tone that rang through much of the day's rhetoric. "How we as conservatives respond to these challenges could determine whether America retains her place in the world as a beacon of freedom, or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of socialism." >>> Mark Z. Barabak | Sunday, September 13, 2009
THE WASHINGTON POST:
Picture Gallery: Conservatives Protest at the Capitol: Opponents of government spending held a massive demonstration on Saturday >>>
NZZ ONLINE: Mehrere zehntausend Demonstranten haben in Washington gegen die Politik von Präsident Barack Obama protestiert. Auf Spruchbändern warfen sie der Regierung am Samstag vor, die Rolle des Staates in der Gesellschaft übermächtig werden zu lassen.
Die Demonstration fand vor dem Hintergrund des anhaltenden heftigen Streits in den USA über Pläne von Präsident Barack Obama für eine umfassende Gesundheitsreform statt. Neben dem übrigen Ausgabenverhalten von Kongress und Regierung wurden vor allem diese von den Demonstranten scharf angegriffen.
Auf selbstgemalten Plakaten warfen einige Demonstranten dem Präsidenten vor, die USA Richtung Sozialismus führen zu wollen. So trug ein Immigrant aus der Ukraine ein Pappschild mit der Aufschrift «Ich hatte genug Sozialismus in der UdSSR.» >>> sda/dpa/afp | Sonntag, 13. September 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2020
Elizabeth Warren, Once a Front-Runner, Drops Out of Presidential Race
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday, ending a run defined by an avalanche of policy plans that aimed to pull the Democratic Party to the left and appealed to enough voters to make her briefly a front-runner last fall.
Though her vision excited progressives, it did not generate enough excitement among the party’s working-class and diverse base, and her support had eroded by Super Tuesday. In her final weeks as a candidate she effectively drove former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a centrist billionaire, out of the race with debate performances that flashed her evident skills and political potential.
She entered the race railing against the corrosive power of big money, and one long-term consequence of her campaign is that Ms. Warren demonstrated that someone other than Senator Bernie Sanders, and his intensely loyal small-dollar donors, could fund a credible presidential campaign without holding fund-raisers. » | Astead W. Herndon and Shane Goldmacher | Thursday, March 5, 2020
Saturday, February 05, 2022
Austria's Covid-vaccine Mandate: Can It Be Enforced? | DW News
Feb 5, 2022 • Austria has become the first European country to mandate coronavirus vaccination for all adults. It is also the first country that will now have to enforce a vaccination mandate. Starting next month, Austrian police will carry out random spot-checks to see whether people can produce proof of vaccination. Those who can't face fines of 600 euros or more. Vienna set up mobile vaccination buses to increase that number. The willingness to get a jab is stagnant, despite the new bill.
Even before the controversial bill was passed, security was tight at vaccination centers. No other topic polarizes Austrians as much as mandatory vaccination. Those who administer the vaccines can do so only when security is nearby. There is concern about hostile outbursts by anti-vaxxers.
Tens of thousands of them have been taking to the streets almost every weekend across the country to protest against COVID measures. They are a minority. But Werner Reisinger, who is researching radicalism, says, the protests should not be underestimated.
He says the Austrian government failed to reach this crowd, especially when its declaration last summer that the COVID crisis was over was followed by a political crisis of its own. Austria expects an avalanche of lawsuits by those unwilling to pay possible fines starting at 600 euros and to be enforced from mid-March. Vienna is focusing on those whose opinion could still be swayed: The undecided. The city put up billboards in various foreign languages in their latest effort to counter misinformation.
Even before the controversial bill was passed, security was tight at vaccination centers. No other topic polarizes Austrians as much as mandatory vaccination. Those who administer the vaccines can do so only when security is nearby. There is concern about hostile outbursts by anti-vaxxers.
Tens of thousands of them have been taking to the streets almost every weekend across the country to protest against COVID measures. They are a minority. But Werner Reisinger, who is researching radicalism, says, the protests should not be underestimated.
He says the Austrian government failed to reach this crowd, especially when its declaration last summer that the COVID crisis was over was followed by a political crisis of its own. Austria expects an avalanche of lawsuits by those unwilling to pay possible fines starting at 600 euros and to be enforced from mid-March. Vienna is focusing on those whose opinion could still be swayed: The undecided. The city put up billboards in various foreign languages in their latest effort to counter misinformation.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Under siege from Mitt Romney and conservative elites who seem to be conspiring against his candidacy, Gingrich abandoned his stump speech on Thursday in favor of an angry tirade against his most daunting Republican rival and the Washington establishment. He isn’t the candidate who vowed to stay positive in Iowa, or the nose-to-the-grindstone guy he was in South Carolina.
As he took the stage before a tea-party crowd here, Gingrich seethed at Romney for the avalanche of negative ads blanketing the Florida airwaves and bashed the Beltway denizens for coalescing to obstruct his rise.
“There’s the Washington establishment sitting around in a frenzy, having coffee, lunch and cocktail hour talking about, ‘How do we stop Gingrich?’ ” he said, referring to a spate of prominent Republicans who painted him Thursday in as a philandering egomaniac comparable to Bill Clinton and not as close to Ronald Reagan as he would like to think.
The former House speaker told the tea-party crowd that they shouldn’t be confused by the attacks coming from the right as it’s still part of the scared establishment.
“Remember the Republican establishment is just as much as an establishment as the Democratic establishment, and they are just as determined to stop us,” he said. » | Ginger Gibson | Thursday, January 26, 2012
Monday, February 24, 2014
Matteo Renzi's Female Ministers Face 'Sexist' Onslaught Over Dress Sense
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| Italy's new Prime Minister, 39-year-old Matteo Renzi, is greeted by a well-wisher as he leaves a church |
Eight women appointed as ministers in Italy's new government have faced an avalanche of criticism over their dress sense, with one stylist urging them to give Giorgio Armani a call.
New prime minister Matteo Renzi aimed at boosting equality in Italy at the weekend by naming the women to his 16-strong cabinet, including 33-year-old Marianna Madia, who is eight months pregnant.
But instead of hailing a breakthrough for gender equality the press has been dominated by catcalls revolving around the clothes they wore to the swearing-in ceremony.
In particular the electric blue trouser suit worn by Maria Elena Boschi, 33, the new minister for reform, was described by Corriere della Sera as a colour "unknown in nature".
La Stampa likened the blue of Ms Boschi's suit to that worn by "a Marvel superhero like Captain America", adding that her trousers were so tight that when she bent over to sign in as minister "many were reminded of Pippa Middleton's silhouette." » | Tom Kington, Rome | Sunday, February 23, 2014
Thursday, February 09, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Thousands of complaints after insult that followed Fernández accusing Britain of militarising south Atlantic islands
The newspaper's website uploaded a photo of Fernández briefly using the insult as a file name on Wednesday, a day after she accused Britain of militarising the south Atlantic islands.
The word triggered an immediate avalanche of complaints and abuse from Argentinians, reflecting heightened sensitivity towards the archipelago in the runup [sic] to the 30th anniversary of the war with Britain.
The Buenos Aires daily La Nacion said the word, "perra" in Spanish, was a strong "anglo-saxon [sic] term ... signifying disrespect". Within hours more than 2,000 readers responded with comments, many vitriolic.
The Penguin News, which is printed weekly and online updated daily, usually has a tiny readership – the islands have a population of 3,000 – but the escalating diplomatic row between London and Buenos Aires has in recent weeks attracted many readers in Argentina, which calls the islands Las Malvinas and asserts ownership. » | Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent, and Uki Goni in Buenos Aires | Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: SINCE Sunday, when Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested on sexual assault charges in New York, French politicians have been loudly expressing their horrorat his “violent” treatment at the hands of America’s criminal justice system. It must be a shock to them: the sight of a top French establishment figure being treated like an ordinary criminal is about as rare as a photo of the Queen of England in a bikini.
But they are not merely voicing their concern for an esteemed colleague; many of them are also thinking, “There but for the grace of God (or rather the grace of living in France and not the United States) go I.”
France may think it had a revolution, but in fact it just got a new, and even more powerful, elite. They believe themselves so indispensable to the running of the country that trying to topple one of them is a bit like threatening to shoot a prize racehorse for nibbling your lawn. You’re meant to shut up and let them nibble.
This is why the French establishment sees Mr. Strauss-Kahn — rather than the traumatized chambermaid the police say he attacked — as the victim. The same case would never have come out in the open in Paris. The woman would have been quietly asked whether she thought it was worth risking her job and her residence permit. She would have been reminded that it was her word against his, and frankly, whom would people believe? The witty, famous man with the influential friends, or the nobody? » | Op-Ed | Stephen Clarke* | Tuesday, May 17, 2011
* Stephen Clarke is the author of “1,000 Years of Annoying the French.”
MAIL ONLINE: DSK Shouldn’t Lead Women Claims Blonde Banker »
MAIL ONLINE: An Avalanche of Women Point the Finger at DSK »
MAIL ONLINE: A Whole Prison Wing to Himself: The Extraordinary Measures Being Taken to Ensure DSK’s Safety »
MAIL ONLINE: French Furious over US’s Handling of DSK’s Case, Claim French Law Is Superior »
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: The President of the Czech Republic has no intention of signing the Lisbon treaty, a move that might allow David Cameron time to hold a British referendum on Europe.
President Klaus, the fiercely Eurosceptic Czech leader, is the last obstacle for the agreement after its ratification in the other 26 EU states but he has told supporters that he will never sign, The Times has learnt.
Asked during a walkabout on Sunday not to put his name to the treaty, Mr Klaus replied: “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
After a crisis Cabinet meeting yesterday, Jan Fischer, the Czech Prime Minister, avoided a direct confrontation with Mr Klaus, bowing to his demand to reopen negotiations with the EU on an eleventh-hour opt-out.
However, he called on the unpredictable President to guarantee his signature if EU leaders agreed to his conditions and if the Czech Constitutional Court raised no new objections.
Mr Klaus is demanding an opt-out for the Czech Republic that would prevent German families expelled after the Second World War from lodging property claims at the European Court of Justice.
He raised the stakes on Friday, putting a dampener on EU celebrations over the Irish referendum decision to back the treaty. The President argued that the charter could whip up an avalanche of property claims from German families expelled from Czech territory after the war. >>> David Charter, Europe Correspondent, in Prague | Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, June 16, 2014
The Slaughter That Shames Tony Blair: Outcry from All Sides over Former Prime Minister's 'Crusader' Call for a New Blitz on Iraq as the Country Descends into a Bloodbath
Iraq descended to new depths of savagery yesterday – as Tony Blair washed his hands of all blame for the bloodshed.
With Islamist jihadists now in control of large areas of the country, appalling pictures emerged showing the mass execution of government soldiers by masked fanatics.
Dozens of terrified men in civilian clothes lie in a shallow ditch before being executed in cold blood by Islamist extremists.
The Iraqi Army deserters, some wearing football shirts, were taken to scrubland where they faced a firing squad of Al Qaeda-inspired insurgents.
But, to derision from Left and Right, Mr Blair insisted that the sectarian violence tearing the country apart had nothing to do with his own actions in supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Instead, he blamed the West’s failure to bomb Syria last year – and called for fresh Western military action against both nations.
‘We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that “we” have caused this,’ the former Prime Minister wrote in an extraordinary essay. ‘We haven’t.’ Read on and comment » | Jason Groves | Monday, June 16, 2014
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Funeral Held for Dutch Prince Friso after Lengthy Coma
He remained in a coma for a year and a half after being hit by an avalanche at an Austrian ski resort in 2012.
The prince was buried in the small village of Lage Vuursche, near the castle where his mother, former Queen Beatrix, plans to retire.
Only residents and around 80 official guests attended, including Friso's godfather, Norway's King Harald V.
The royal family is planning a public memorial event later this year. Until then, a book of condolences has been opened online. (+ video) » | Friday, August 16, 2013
Obituary: HRH Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau »
Friday, April 21, 2017
Bill O’Reilly Sacked, Finds It ‘Tremendously Disheartening'
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Dutch Lap Up Wilders' Hardline Message
And a recent race row - he told supporters a vote for the PVV would mean fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands - may have done him more good than harm.
This talk is too extreme for many - so what explains his appeal to Dutch voters? I took a spin around The Hague on my bike to find out.
Geert Wilders' Moroccan comments provoked an avalanche of criticism. High-profile PVV members quit, accusing their leader of going too far. More than 5,000 people filed complaints to the public prosecutor, calling for Mr Wilders to be charged with inciting racial hatred. (+ BBC video) » | Anna Holligan | BBC News | The Hague | Saturday, April 26, 2014
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