India and Japan prime ministers meet in Tokyo India 's new prime minister , Narendra Modi , is meeting his Japanese counterpart , Shinzo Abe , in Tokyo to discuss economic and security ties , on his first major foreign visit since winning May 's election . Mr Modi is on a five ##AT##-##AT## day trip to Japan to strengthen economic ties with the third largest economy in the world . High on the agenda are plans for greater nuclear co ##AT##-##AT## operation . India is also reportedly hoping for a deal on defence collaboration between the two nations . Karratha police arrest 20 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old after high speed motorcycle chase A motorcycle has been seized after it was ridden at 125km / h in a 70km / h zone and through bushland to escape police in the Pilbara . Traffic police on patrol in Karratha this morning tried to pull over a blue motorcycle when they spotted it reaching 125km / h as it pulled out of a service station on Bathgate Road . Police say the rider then failed to stop and continued on to Burgess Road before turning into bushland , causing the officers to lose sight of it . The motorcycle and a person matching the description of the rider was then spotted at a house on Walcott Way in Bulgarra . Karratha Police have charged a 20 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old man with failing to stop and reckless driving . He is due to appear in Karratha Magistrates Court on September 23 . The motorcycle was seized and impounded for three months . George Webster accused of Nairn and Pitlochry hotel rapes A man is to stand trial accused of raping women at two hotels . George Webster , 28 , faced the charges during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow . He is alleged to have raped a woman at the Scotland 's Hotel in Pitlochry in Perthshire on June 7 , 2013 . It is claimed Webster attacked her while she was " unconscious , asleep and incapable of giving consent . " Webster is then charged with raping a second woman at the Golf View Hotel in Nairn in the Highlands on May 4 , 2014 . Judge Lady Rae set a trial date for November 17 at the High Court in Edinburgh . Reconnecting With the Very American Ideal That Labor Rights Are Human Rights Congressmen Keith Ellison and John Lewis have proposed legislation to protect union organizing as a civil right . " As go unions , so go middle ##AT##-##AT## class jobs , " says Ellison , the Minnesota Democrat who serves as a Congressional Progressive Caucus co ##AT##-##AT## chair . That 's why I 'm proud to introduce the Employee Empowerment Act with civil rights icon John Lewis . This ground ##AT##-##AT## breaking legislation will give workers the same legal options for union organizing discrimination as for other forms of discrimination - stopping anti ##AT##-##AT## union forces in their tracks Amending the National Labor Relations Act to allow workers who face discrimination for engaging in union organizing to sue for justice in the civil courts - and to collect compensatory and punitive damages - is a sound and necessary initiative . But it in certainly not a radical initiative - at least by American standards . Indeed , the best way to understand what Ellison , Lewis and the cosponsors of their legislation are proposing is as a reconnection with a very American idea . Despite the battering that unions have taken in recent years - in Wisconsin , Michigan and states across the country - Americans once encouraged countries around the world to embrace , extend and respect labor rights . There was a time , within the living memory of millions of Americans , when this country championed democracy , freedom of speech , freedom of the press and the right to organize in the same breath . When the United States occupied Japan after World War II , General Douglas MacArthur and his aides encouraged the country to adopt a constitution designed to assure that Hideki Tojo 's militarized autocracy would be replaced with democracy . Fully aware that workers and their unions had a role to play in shaping the new Japan , they included language that explicitly recognized that " the right of workers to organize and to bargain and act collectively is guaranteed . " When the United States occupied Germany after World War II , General Dwight David Eisenhower and his aides urged the Germans to write a constitution that would assure that Adolf Hitler 's fascism was replaced with muscular democracy . Recognizing that workers would need to organize and make their voices heard in the new nation , the Germans included a provision that explicitly declared : " The right to form associations to safeguard and improve working and economic conditions shall be guaranteed to every individual and to every occupation or profession . Agreements that restrict or seek to impair this right shall be null and void ; measures directed to this end shall be unlawful . When former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the International Commission on Human Rights , which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that would in 1948 be adopted by the United Nations as a global covenant , Roosevelt and the drafters included a guarantee that " everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests . " For generations , Americans accepted the basic premise that labor rights are human rights . When this country counseled other countries on how to forge civil and democratic societies , Americans explained that the right to organize a trade union - and to have that trade union engage in collective bargaining as an equal partner with corporations and government agencies - had to be protected . Now , with those rights under assault in America , it is wise , indeed , to recommit to the American ideal that working people must have a right to organize and to make their voices heard in a free and open society . As the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said fifty years ago : History is a great teacher . Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it . By raising the living standards of millions , labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production . Those who attack labor forget these simple truths , but history remembers them . History remembers , as should we . The formal recognition of labor rights as human rights - and the extension of civil rights protections to prevent discrimination against labor organizing - is long overdue . Keith Ellison and John Lewis are renewing ideals that have historically enlarged America and made real the promise of democracy . Judge temporarily blocks law that could close all Louisiana abortion clinics A U.S. federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked enforcement of a Louisiana law that advocates say would likely have closed all five abortion clinics in the state . The measure , signed into law by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in June and due to take effect Sept . 1 , would require doctors who perform abortions to have patient admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their practice . However , the judge 's ruling means that for the time being doctors can continue to perform legal abortions while seeking such privileges . " Plaintiffs will be allowed to operate lawfully while continuing their efforts to obtain privileges , " Federal Judge John deGravelles wrote in the decision . A hearing will be scheduled within a month for the judge to make a more permanent ruling on the law . Abortion rights activists applauded the decision , the latest in a string of rulings against similar measures , saying it would give doctors more time to seek hospital privileges . " Today 's ruling ensures Louisiana women are safe from an underhanded law that seeks to strip them of their health and rights , " said Nancy Northup , president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights , which sued to block the law on behalf of three of the state 's five clinics . It was not immediately clear whether the ruling applied to doctors from the two clinics who were not plaintiffs in the suit and have also applied for admitting privileges . Louisiana is among 11 states that have passed similar laws , with courts recently ruling unconstitutional such measures in Alabama and Mississippi . Key parts of a Texas law that would have shuttered most remaining clinics in that state were blocked by a federal judge on Friday . Abortion rights campaigners , along with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association , say admitting privileges laws impose medically unnecessary requirements on doctors . Anti ##AT##-##AT## abortion advocates have countered that the measures aim to protect women 's health , though some have also lauded their effect of shuttering clinics . Only one doctor who performs abortions in Louisiana has hospital admitting privileges , the Center for Reproductive Rights said . If all other doctors in the state are forced to stop performing abortions , that doctor , fearful for his safety , would stop carrying out the procedure , the group said . In arguing against the ruling , Louisiana officials said they would not punish doctors performing abortions while their applications for admitting privileges were pending . Delayed diagnosis and inability to access best treatment mean ovarian cancer kills more in rural areas Angelina Jolie and her brother James have posted a video tribute to their late mother who died of Ovarian cancer in 2007 . Women living in rural Australia are at higher risk of dying from ovarian cancer than their city counterparts . Researchers analysed medical records of more than 1100 Australian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005 , finding just 35 per cent lived for five years after diagnosis . Lead researcher Susan Jordan , of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute , said those living in regional and remote areas of the state were about 20 per cent more likely to die during the study than those in urban areas . SMALL STUDY : New drugs may slow lung , ovarian cancer The researchers tracked the women 's medical journeys across seven years . Dr Jordan said a woman 's age at the time of diagnosis , ovarian cancer type , having existing illnesses and socio ##AT##-##AT## economic status also impacted on survival chances . Older women and those whose cancer was more advanced at the time of diagnosis had the poorest survival rates . Those living in regional and remote areas of the state were about 20 per cent more likely to die during the study than those in urban areas . Although the study was not designed to determine why women living outside the city were more likely to die from ovarian cancer , Dr Jordan suggested delayed diagnosis and inability to access best treatment might be factors . " This disease is best treated by gynaecological oncology surgeons and they 're mostly based in major cities , " she said . Despite improving tele ##AT##-##AT## medicine services to lessen the tyranny of distance , she suggested more fly ##AT##-##AT## in , fly ##AT##-##AT## out services to allow specialists to treat women closer to home and programs to support people in treatment away from their communities could help . Dr Jordan said regardless of geographical status , the study found long ##AT##-##AT## term survival among women with ovarian cancer was poor , reinforcing the need for better treatment and prevention strategies . The research , funded by the Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer cancer , will be published today in the Medical Journal of Australia . In March 2012 , at 33 years of age , young Gold Coast mum Elisha Neave was told that she had an aggressive form of ovarian cancer . Garden centres rue fall in homeowners The drop , coupled with a particular decline in the number of homeowners aged under 35 , could result in garden centres losing out on tens of millions of pounds a year when today 's young consumers reach the " core gardening age group , " according to the HTA 's study , which was reported by the Financial Times . According to the report , people renting properties spend an average of 55 per cent of the amount that those with their own homes spend on their gardens . It cited the rise in people living in highly urbanised areas with no gardens , the popularity of paving over front gardens for parking and shrinking garden size as other factors threatening the industry , which is worth an estimated £ 5 billion in sales each year . Greater London , where home ownership has fallen from 61 per cent to 43 per cent in six years , has Britain 's lowest spend per household on gardening products . The HTA and Royal Horticultural Society said that renting property or a lack of garden space did not mean people could not grow plants . Guy Barter , chief horticultural adviser to the RHS , said : " Container gardening , for example , is especially popular with renters who can move their plants when they relocate . " The HTA report identified the period between 1997 and 2005 as the garden retail sector 's ' golden age " as a result of increased home ownership and economic prosperity from the late 1980s to mid ##AT##-##AT## 1990s . It also predicted an improved market this year due to better weather following unfavourable conditions in March and April last year . In Pakistan , the protest movement led by political opponent , Imran Khan , and the spiritual leader , Tahirul Qadri , continues . In the capital city of Islamabad , around 1000 demonstrators stormed the government ##AT##-##AT## run television station , PTV . However , information minister , Pervaiz Rashid , said that soldiers had been able to force the protesters back out of the building . The TV station stopped broadcasting for approximately 40 minutes , but has since begun to broadcast again . At the same time , around 3000 demonstrators attempted to reach the official residency of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif . Approximately one kilometre away , they clashed with security security services , armed with sticks and stones . The police used tear gas . The demonstrators demanded Sharif 's resignation , which he refused . The Pakistan Army called for a political solution to the conflict " without delay and without resorting to violence . " Following a meeting at its headquarters on Sunday evening , the military announced : " The Army remains committed to its task of ensuring security for the State " . The military plays an important role in Pakistan and has taken power by force several times in the past . The opposition politician , Imran Khan , accuses Prime Minister Sharif of rigging the parliamentary elections , which took place in May last year . The protests escalated at the weekend , after Khan and Qadri called on their followers to advance to Sharif 's residence . There were three people killed . Turkey Summons US Diplomat Over Spying Report The Turkish foreign ministry has summoned the most senior U.S. diplomat in the country for clarification of a report about American and British spying in Turkey . Deputy Prime Minister Bulent said the U.S. charge d 'affaires and Turkish officials had discussed the report Monday . German magazine Der Spiegel and the online magazine The Intercept said that documents provided by former U.S. National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden show that Turkey was a high priority intelligence target for U.S. and British intelligence services . According to Turkish news wires , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan downplayed the importance of the report , saying that all major countries spied on each other . An earlier report that Germany 's main intelligence agency had also targeted Ankara drew a more angry response from the Turkish government . Warning strike : Train drivers threaten to strike , causing problems for commuters The nationwide waning strike made by train drivers on Monday evening could also have a negative impact on passenger services in NW . The announced walkout will last for between 18 and 21 hours , will affect all transport companies across Germany , including main ##AT##-##AT## line rail , regional trains and city trains , The brunt of the strike will affect the transport of goods . Image : A. Burgi / Archive according to the announcement made in Düsseldorf by the district chairperson for the union of German train drivers ( GDL ) , Sven Schmitte . We are expecting there to be a significant amount of cancellations . We are not targeting any regions . The brunt of the strike will affect the transport of goods . Deutsch Bahn in NW has announced that they will do everything they can to ensure disruptions are kept to a minimum . The GDL have not said , however , where they will strike , making it difficult to predict exactly what the consequences will be . Magaluf police chief charged over corruption The claimants presented proof of extortion by policemen and Calvià Town Hall civil servants at Mallorca 's public prosecutor 's office on Friday . The head of Calvià police on the holiday island of Majorca has been arrested following corruption claims filed by businessmen and bar owners in the notorious binge drinking hotspot of Magaluf . Chief Inspector José Antonio Navarro has been remanded in custody following corruption claims made against him by several businessmen from Punta Ballena , the street where most of Magaluf 's bars and nightclubs are located . According to online daily Mallorca Diario , the claimants presented proof of extortion by policemen and Calvià Town Hall civil servants at the office of Majorca 's anti ##AT##-##AT## corruption prosecutor on Friday . Two other local police officers were arrested by Spanish Civil Guards in connection to the corruption claims and will have to be questioned by a judge alongside Navarro . Spanish national daily ABC reported the disgruntled nightclub owners as saying favouritism by authorities was having a serious effect on their businesses . " It 's not about making money anymore , it 's about surviving , " one of the businessmen told the court . You don 't mess with our livelihoods . We have nothing to lose . Magaluf made international headlines this summer as a result of a viral YouTube video which showed an 18 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old British holidaymaker performing fellatio on 24 men during a pub crawl . Island authorities have since attempted to clamp down on the drunk and disorderly behaviour of Magaluf holiday revellers by minimizing numbers on the notorious alcohol ##AT##-##AT## fuelled bar crawls . In addition , the Playhouse club where the fellatio incident took place was forced to shut down for a year , while Playhouse and the bar crawl organizers Carnage were jointly fined € 55,000 ( $ 73,000 ) . The tourist resort of Magaluf , mainly popular with young British holidaymakers , has also seen numerous alcohol ##AT##-##AT## fuelled accidents involving the craze known as " balconing , " where people jump from one balcony to another or from a balcony into the hotel pool . First day of spring marked with wet and blustery conditions impacting Adelaide Airport flights SPRING has sprung a wintry surprise on southern South Australia , bringing heavy showers and strong winds that have affected flights at Adelaide Airport . A further 5mm of rain fell on the city in the evening up to 9pm , following the 6.6mm that fell overnight on Sunday . The latest rain came courtesy of a couple of short , blustery showers , including a burst that started just before 8pm that dumped almost 4mm in about 10 minutes . After winter delivered an early dose of spring last week , temperatures dropped again on Monday to a high of just 15.8C in the city . The squally conditions are believed to have contributed to the delayed landing of a Virgin Airlines flight from Melbourne to Adelaide . The plane was scheduled to land just after 7.30pm but was hit by windshear - a sudden change in wind speed or direction over a short distance - and was forced to pull out . Wind gusts were reaching about 50km / h on the ground at Adelaide Airport at the time . Flight data showed the plane had to pull out of second landing and the plane eventually touched down about 8.40pm. That flight 's delay caused the subsequent delay of a few other flights , including an Emirates flight from Dubai and a Qantas flight from Sydney . A top of 16C is forecast for Adelaide on Tuesday , with the chance of a shower or two . Matthies thinks : High time for the Internet Of Things Faced with runaway advances in consumer technology , which threaten to turn our homes into high ##AT##-##AT## tech control rooms , our reporter , Bernd Matthies , takes heart from one electronic gadget that he really feels at home with . As I write this , my eye catches the spiral cable , which connects the handset to the telephone , and I 'm thinking : Wow ! How retro is that then ? But it started me thinking : If the cable was not there , all the handsets would be lying scattered around the house in no time at all - and that would be even more retro . In any case , in the elephantine ( elephantine ? No - a typing error - electronics ) sector , the basic rule is that the latest wonder of today is electronic rubbish tomorrow - once bought , it 's out of date . And anyone , for example , who still has an old CRT TV in their living room , is merely announcing to the world that they 're not interested in TVs ! So why these thoughts ? Because the International Consumer Electronics Fair ( IFA ) in Berlin , once again showed us how incompetent we are when it comes to questions about technology . The layman , who once knew , blind , how to operate a washing machine and a CD ##AT##-##AT## Player , is today faced with highfalutin expert talk about an array of gadgets , the purpose of which he doesn 't even understand . " Connected Home , Wearables , Health Care and Urban Technologies , " are what the press office promise us . Yes - and ? What do you say to people , who clearly talk such guff voluntarily ? Really , they 've been trying to sell us the Internet of Things for our homes , for the last 20 years . So that your yoghurt can place itself on your shopping list ; so that your fire ##AT##-##AT## alarm can tell you - when you 're lying on the beach in the Maldives - that there 's a fire in your study back home . And wouldn 't it be wonderful if we could set our home air ##AT##-##AT## conditioning to switch on just before we get back from the office ... ? Yes - but that presupposes that you have an air ##AT##-##AT## conditioner in the first place . However , one dream really will come true very soon : We lift our wrist watches , and in a loud voice say " Vacuum ! " - and at home the vacuum cleaner robot begins to hoover . Fantastic . Everything is geared to nothing less than a revolution : " The boundary between white and brown goods is becoming blurred , " mutters an industry insider . You can connect your washing machine to your headphone ; your steam oven can send you a weather report ; and your data ##AT##-##AT## goggles can tell you how long your pizza still has to go in the oven - but that 's of little use if you 're sitting in a traffic jam . From everyday experience , we also know : If you need a new model gadget to urgently work , the battery will almost certainly be empty . Which is another reason why the spiral cable on the telephone will out ##AT##-##AT## live the next IFA exhibits in Berlin . Israeli Children Return to School After Gaza War Thousands of Israeli children in areas near the Gaza Strip went back to school Monday after spending the summer in bomb shelters as rockets and mortars rained on their communities during the 50 ##AT##-##AT## day Israel ##AT##-##AT## Hamas war , while schools in Gaza remained shuttered as the territory recovered from the fighting . The start of school brought a sense of joy and excitement to rocket ##AT##-##AT## scarred communities in southern Israel , but the signs of the fighting remained fresh . In the southern city of Ashdod , employees at the " Pashosh " kindergarten , which was struck by a rocket , removed shrapnel marks off the walls and slides ahead of the students ' arrival . " We are a little scared but we are excited , " said Ronit Bart , a resident of Kibbutz Saad and an English teacher in its school . A lot of children in our area really need to go back to a routine . Her 11 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old daughter , Shani Bart , said it felt a " little bit weird " to suddenly be going back to school . " There were some difficult times and we didn 't leave our houses at all , " she said . President Reuven Rivlin visited the kibbutz , which is located close to the Gaza border , to offer his support . Until a cease ##AT##-##AT## fire halted the war last week , thousands of residents of border communities like Saad remained indoors or left their homes for safer areas further away from Gaza to escape rocket and mortar fire . Many residents of Nahal Oz , a community close to the Gaza frontier where a 4 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old boy was killed by a Palestinian mortar shell , are hesitant about coming back . The Education Ministry said about a dozen families still had not returned . Their children have been placed in alternate schools for the time being . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a school in Sderot , a Gaza border town that has been hard hit by Palestinian fire . He urged the children to study hard and said " we will make sure to provide you with knowledge and provide you with security . " Israel and Hamas agreed to an open ##AT##-##AT## ended truce last Tuesday . The cease ##AT##-##AT## fire brought an immediate end to the fighting but left key issues unresolved , such as Hamas ' demand for the lifting of an Israel ##AT##-##AT## Egyptian blockade of Gaza and the reopening of Gaza 's air and seaports . Israel wants Hamas to disarm and the return of bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in the war . A new round of indirect talks is expected to begin later this month in Egypt . The war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians , three ##AT##-##AT## quarters of whom were civilians and at least 494 children , according to Palestinian and U.N. estimates . Israel disputes the figures and estimates that at least half of those killed were militants , though it has not provided firm evidence to back its claims . On the Israeli side , 66 soldiers and six civilians , including a Thai worker , were killed . Hamas and other Gaza militants fired 4,591 rockets and mortars at Israeli cities during the fighting , mostly in the south . The Israeli military , meanwhile , carried out more than 5,000 airstrikes and other attacks . The Israeli attacks damaged or destroyed thousands of homes in Gaza , and an estimated 250,000 people took refuge in more than 100 U.N. schools turned into makeshift shelters . With tens of thousands of people still in the shelters and fighting still raging , education officials delayed the start of the school year last week . " I hope the school will open soon to complete our education , just like the world 's children and Jewish children , " said Mohammad Amara , a 13 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old boy staying in a Gaza City school . Following the election in Saxony : CDU Vice ##AT##-##AT## Chairman Strobl questions NPD ##AT##-##AT## banning process In view of the loss of votes by the German right ##AT##-##AT## wing extremist party , NPD , in Saxony , the national CDU ##AT##-##AT## Vice ##AT##-##AT## Chairman , Thomas Strobl , has called for an end of the on ##AT##-##AT## going NPD ##AT##-##AT## banning process , which is taking place in the German Federal Constitutional Court . Berlin - According to CDU National Vice ##AT##-##AT## Chairman , Thomas Strobl , the current trial taking place in the German Federal Constitutional Court to decide whether to ban the NPD from the political process , should be brought to an end . According to the " Leipziger Volkszeitung , " the NPD performed worse than last time , " said Strobl , who is also CDU regional boss in Baden ##AT##-##AT## Württemberg . That is a good development , one that should make us happy , and this trend leads me to think that we should fight the NPD in the ballot box , and not in the constitutional court . On Sunday , the NPD narrowly missed achieving the five percent barrier , which would have seen it enter parliament . A first attempt at securing a ban of the right ##AT##-##AT## wing extremist party failed in 2003 , because the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution also had informants in the top echelons of the NPD . In December 2013 the Bundesrat submitted a further banning action to the constitutional court , which is based in Karlsruhe , after spending a long time preparing the case . The German government and Bundestag did not take part in the banning submission . Harburg : Tents for new refugees Refugees at Neuländer Platz will now be accommodated in tents . The reception centre for refugees in Harburg is full ##AT##-##AT## to ##AT##-##AT## bursting . The German Internal Affairs Authority has now given the go ##AT##-##AT## ahead for the Red Cross to erect the three tents . The local area politicians were only informed about it a short while before - and they are not happy . " These one ##AT##-##AT## off actions only stir up more doubts in the minds of the public , and they give the local politicians no chance to work out a constructive plan of how to house refugees in a humane manner , " said , for example , Britta Herrmann , Chairwoman of the Green Party in the Harburg district assembly . Her party is calling on the Harburg district authority to deploy empty houses to accommodate the refugees . 96 refugees can be accommodated in the three tents . The reasons for the over ##AT##-##AT## crowding in the initial reception centres are mainly the sudden increase in numbers of those seeking help , as well as the fact that the authorities cannot make available enough places in suitable accommodation . Many refugees therefore stay longer than the regular three months . Housing prices have posted their strongest winter gain in seven years , according to a widely ##AT##-##AT## watched gauge . The RP Data CoreLogic Hedonic home value index of Australian capital city dwelling prices rose by 1.1 per cent in August , RP data said on Monday . The rise brought the total gain over the June , July and August to 4.2 per cent , the biggest rise over the winter months since 2007 . Annual growth in prices came in at 10.9 per cent , more than double the gain of the 12 months to August 2013 , but the gains were not evenly spread across the country . RP Data research director Tim Lawless said Sydney and Melbourne are driving a two tier market . The RP Data figures show Sydney home prices rose by 16.1 per cent in the past year , while Melbourne 's were up by 11.7 per cent . The next strongest markets were Adelaide , Brisbane and Darwin , with price rises averaging between five and six per cent . At the other end of the scale was Canberra , hit by government spending cutbacks , where prices rose by only 1.4 per cent through the year . Mr Lawless said that now spring has begun there would be a rise in listings of properties for sale over the coming few months , which would be a " real test " for the market . " Considering the ongoing high rate of auction clearance rates , a generally rapid rate of sale and the ongoing low interest rate environment , it 's likely that dwelling values will rise even further over the next three months , " he said . In an announcement to the regional German newspaper ' die Neue Presse ' Pötzl contradicted the comments of managing director , Peer Medau , and said that the latter was behaving like a " military general . " This was not the style of the college , he said . He said that the Medau family " were informed about the plans of the college in the middle of June . They are simply wrong to say that they only learned of the plans in July " . At the same time he also said that the plans were not about " final decisions already made , " but rather about " stating preferences " . He also said that the building work to widen the narrow access road up to the castle would not be as radical as the Medaus feared . It was not - and will not be - a matter of a nine metre ##AT##-##AT## wide road . We currently aim to widen it by 5.5 metres , which is one metre wider than before , " explained Pötzl . Pötzl refutes the argument of the Medau concern , namely that its cost ##AT##-##AT## free parking places which belong to the school , will in future only be available for use by the college students . It won 't be a case of everywhere being parked up , because we have time to find intelligent solutions , as has been the case with other car parks , too . Think of the neighbours The children 's nursery Bergwichtel , which is situated on the space in question , and in front of the front door of which the access road to the parking level will run , is " not to be impacted " according to the college president . He is far more concerned to point out " that it 's not only an issue concerning the children 's nursery , rather it is about the people who live by the entrance to Friedrich ##AT##-##AT## Streib ##AT##-##AT## Strasse and the 800 schoolchildren of the adjacent secondary school . It 's therefore about a lot more than the individual interests of the Medau gentlemen , " he said . Whether the criticism by the parents ' association for the children 's nursery is correct that the extension of the road will lead to " one of the few remaining natural spaces in Coburg being lost , " he said the " readers can decide for themselves . " At the beginning of October , Pötzl , together with the Bamberg regional building authority , plans to present his plans of development of the college up to 2020 " and to talk about the importance of the extension work in this context . " Peer Medau informed the parents of the children 's nursery about the plans , last week . Accordingly , the access for the new parking level will not now lead , as before , via the campus and Friedrich ##AT##-##AT## Streib ##AT##-##AT## Strasse , but rather via the Medau ##AT##-##AT## Berg . Thus , the narrow road must be widened into two lanes over a stretch of about one kilometre . According to higher estimates of the Medaus , the traffic in the Hohenfels castle park would increase ten ##AT##-##AT## fold . They are talking of 2000 vehicles every day . Meanwhile , the town council refused to comment . Glandorf retires from German National Handball team Holger Glandorf will no longer play for the German National team . The 31 year ##AT##-##AT## old from German Bundesliga side SG Flensburg ##AT##-##AT## Handewitt said that it was mainly for health reasons that he had reached this decision . " It was not an easy decision to make , but I 've been thinking about it for months . The time has come to listen to the signals my body sends and to end my national team career , " announced the 2007 World Cup winner on his Facebook ##AT##-##AT## Page . He retires from international competition with a record of 167 national games and 576 goals for Germany . The powerful ##AT##-##AT## throwing right ##AT##-##AT## back wants to continue for the next few years to shoot goals for the Champions ##AT##-##AT## League winners from Flensburg , and will therefore not be available for selection by new German National team head coach , Dagur Sigurdsson . Glandorf said he had had a " nice long talk " with the Icelander , who will select his squad on Tuesday for the games against Switzerland . His ideas and approach to the game have always inspired me , as I am sure they will also inspire my long ##AT##-##AT## term teammates and my successors , too . " I would like to represent my club in the next few years and I need longer breaks and more recovery time to do so , and the double burden of also playing for the national team wouldn`t allow me to do that . " The left ##AT##-##AT## hander feared his career might end in 2012 when he had a heel infection . Due to achilles tendon problems he was given a cortisone injection by doctors working with the German Handball Association , and this caused severe swelling of his foot . He needed an emergency operation and two further surgeries as well . Glandorf then brought a legal action against the team doctor ; however , this ended in a settlement . Twelve years as a professional and eleven years with the national team would take their toll on any player . " I have some health issues I can 't ignore anymore . After three foot ##AT##-##AT## surgeries within a short period of time in 2012 , caused by infections , I have never been able to control my blood pressure . I 've also got some other minor issues related - wear and tear . At the beginning of the year I realized that I was able to control my head , but I couldn`t play tricks with my body , " he explained in an interview with German magazine Handball Time . He would only consider a comeback if really necessary . " If we are in real big trouble , then I might consider it , " the two ##AT##-##AT## time father told the magazine . " But I can count the years I will continue to play handball with one hand . And I have to admit that I have become really humble after my long stay in the hospital in 2012 , when it comes to my health . After my career I would like to walk straight , to be honest . " Besides the 2007 World Championship he also won the Champions League in May and the EHF ##AT##-##AT## Cup in 2008 ( HSG Nordhorn ) and 2010 ( TBV Lemgo ) . He also won the Cup Winners Cup with Flensburg in 2012 . German economy as shrunk by 0.2 percent in spring The crises around the globe have put a curb on the German economy in the the second quarter . The Gross Domestic Product sank from April to the end of June 2014 by 0.2 percent in comparison with the previous quarter . This was announced by the German Office for National Statistics , which thereby confirmed previous estimates . Consumption alone was a spur to the economy in the early part of the year , whilst investments were down . Foreign goods trade had slowed , too . Due to the strong start to the year , figures for first half ##AT##-##AT## year GDP were up 0.8 percent from the second quarter of 2013 . Horstmar was the starting point and the destination of " Münsterland ##AT##-##AT## Mooiste " , which lead through the city on Sunday . The city of Horstmar experienced an invasion of Dutch " Fietzen riders " on Sunday . The largest cycling federation in Holland , NTFU , staged the so ##AT##-##AT## called " Münsterlande ##AT##-##AT## Mooiste " . In other words , the largest bike ride straight through Münsterland , a bike rider 's paradise close to Holland . By registering , more than 1000 participants thanked Jos ter Huerne for having organized this tour through Münsterland . The tour was advertised in several professional journals , and offered to those interested . We are from Den Helder , and drove here over night so we could take part in the tour . We would also like to get know Münsterland a bit better in the same way " , the cyclists eagerly said , looking forward to the route through Steinfurt , Borken and Coesfeld . After registering at the fraternity 's club house , Sta . Katharina started off with a small " peace ride " through the city and over the embankment , which is also where the start line was . Then , the route , which was advertised in three different categories , headed in the direction of Herrenholz via Schöppinger Berg towards Coesfeld , passing by Havixbeck and Billerbeck , and then back to Horstmar . The riders prove just how good a shape they are in : stretches of 95 kilometers at an altitude of 1175 meters , 120 kilometers with an altitude of 1475 meters , and 145 kilometers with an altitude of 1775 meters . They were fed and watered on their way back in Havixbeck and Billerbeck . Chief organizer , Jos ter Huerne , and deputy mayor , Heinz Lölfing seemed to be very pleased with the success of this cycling event . We are happy , and it was a wonderful experience for all participants . The organization went smoothly , with no issues , and there were no nasty incidents " , Heinz Lölfing positively concluded with regard to the event . Unfortunately , there were not as many participants as the organizer had hoped for , which is presumably because of the bad weather forecast and the morning rain . " We shall see each other in 2015 , hopefully with nice weather , on either 30 August , or on another weekend " , the riders promised , but whatever the weather , they will return to Münsterland , and the organizers will plan a repeat . Konstantin Wecker - scrupulously honest memoirs The 287 ##AT##-##AT## page " Monk and Warrior " by Konstantin Wecker , song writer , pacifist , political activist and ex ##AT##-##AT## prisoner , is really more a statement of philosophy than it is a biography Composed more as a collection of thought ##AT##-##AT## provoking ideas rather than a chronological history , the author , who was born in Munich on 1 June 1947 , has provided every chapter with an accompanying suitable song ##AT##-##AT## text . And he has been unstintingly honest throughout : From masturbating as a grammar school pupil to shoplifting and drug ##AT##-##AT## taking , he has left none of his human weaknesses untold . And this was also a means to explain why he is now come to be so tolerant towards his fellow man . As a result , abstract concepts , which he liberally uses throughout the text , take on a clearer , more important meaning : Love ; Soul ; Ego ; Existing in the Here and Now ; Spirituality - he seeks to understand the essential meaning of these concepts , in a highly philosophical , but also very personal way . And he explains why he is pacifist ; what lies behind his criticism of society ; his political heart and soul ; and also how his thoughts and ideas have been shaped and moulded - not only by music ( he was an opera lover who became a soul and rock musician ) but by his prison experience , too . He says that the latter experience gave him a closer understanding of the life of the monks , who live their lives by a process of " subtraction " whereby they " rid themselves of all things superfluous . " In ##AT##-##AT## between all the highbrow stuff , there are also short anecdotes of a more earthy nature - for example , fist ##AT##-##AT## fights in a bar frequented by GIs , or else a crazy drive on the motorway , in which he drove full ##AT##-##AT## on straight into a tree . And he 's unsparing also , as he describes that too . Lenny Henry : My father never hugged me . Never said " I love you " Henry was one of seven children born to Jamaican immigrants in Dudley in the Midlands in 1958 . His father , who died when Henry was 19 , worked in a factory and their relationship was limited . Henry is rehearsing a comedy , Rudy 's Rare Records , which is based in part on an imaginary conversation with his father and has grown out of the Radio 4 series . The soundtrack is a mix of reggae and rap and the tunes are upbeat . But Henry has had to work through some difficult memories of childhood . There was " a lot " of therapy after his mother died and Henry is reflective about his relationship with his father . He was very unknowable . You never saw his face , you just heard his voice : ' Stop the noise . Leave your sister alone . Move ! I want to watch the cricket . My older brothers Seymour and Hilton - who were grown ##AT##-##AT## up when I was a kid - went to the pub with him and talked about things like the shape of the beer glass , the beauty of the stroke in cricket . I never had a conversation with him like that . He was this unsmiling bloke in the corner , reading the paper for a lot of my life . Recently Henry opened a foundry in Dudley and , although conditions were better than in his father 's day , he got a snapshot of what life must have been like for him . It 's a bit brighter now but they 're dark , smoky , Stygian labyrinthine depths with bursts of flame and smoke and lots of soot . My dad used to get in the bath and just lie there and you 'd hear him slowly start to sing to himself because he would wash the foundry off him . When I walked round it , I realised that he had done that for years and years to put food on the table , and my estimation of him went up . None the less , Henry emerged from a childhood stripped of parental affection . My dad never did hugging , never said , ' I love you ' . It wasn 't until my mum was poorly near the end of her life that we started saying ' I love you , I love you , I love you . Having a daughter of his own , Billie , with Dawn French , enabled him to share the love he missed as a child . Could you stop with the " I love you " ? Just stop hugging me ! Dad , I 'm 22 ! With Dawn French . Why wouldn 't I be friends with her ? She 's a great mum He 's still very good friends with French , to whom he was married for 25 years . Dawn 's a good person . Why wouldn 't I be friends with Dawn ? She 's a great mum . Henry 's own mother was diabetic . It was one of the things that killed her . So when I became very , very overweight and started getting diabetic symptoms , my doctor said , ' You 've got to be radical . So I went on a big fitness thing , and I also had to go on a drastic diet to reverse the symptoms . It 's very hard . And it 's tedious . Nobody likes eating carrots . Henry 's change in career trajectory is , perhaps , reflected in his distinguished , close ##AT##-##AT## cropped beard . Since he won critical acclaim for his Othello , he has become engrossed in the theatre . Comedy of Errors followed , as did Fences by August Wilson . It 's a different experience from the sitcoms and comedies that have upholstered his busy working life . He started out when he was just 16 and working at a factory . A DJ spotted him on stage doing impressions and wrote to New Faces about him . His TV career was launched in the mid ##AT##-##AT## Seventies : " For quite a long time I was the only black impressionist / comedian on telly . " He learnt on the job . Not only did I have to grow up in the public eye , I had to learn how to be an efficient joke ##AT##-##AT## delivering mechanism between 1975 and 1985 , whilst being a star , being on television and it was really difficult . Lenny on New Faces in 1975 Because his manager owned the stage rights to The Black and White Minstrel Show , a light entertainment programme in which people " blacked up , " Henry found himself performing his comedy in it for five years . My family were very uncomfortable about it . I sort of wish it had never happened , but I don 't regret that I did it . Although it was a weird , reprehensible position to be in , I was working in huge venues and learning how to work a crowd . But what was an " award ##AT##-##AT## winning light entertainment staple of British television for years and years " was also a " grotesque parody of black people . " Introducing characters who both lampooned and celebrated black British culture , Henry worked on the alternative comedy circuit in the Eighties . The first series of The Lenny Henry Show aired in 1984 , and in the Nineties he was known as , among other things , chef Gareth Blacklock in the comedy series Chef ! . Advertisements , documentaries , TV series and parts in films consumed his next decade but after his 2008 BBC series , LennyHenry.tv , he thought : " What are you going to do next , Len , because it all feels a bit like you 're marking time or you 're slightly going sideways . " What came next was a Radio 4 documentary series called What 's So Great About ... ? The first was on Shakespeare . I had a real allergy to Shakespeare . I wasn 't really taught it at school properly and thought it was very much the reserve of middle ##AT##-##AT## class white people with tights and a cabbage down the front . So I was very frightened of it . Everybody we interviewed on that show , Peter Hall , Trevor Nunn , Adrian Lester , Judi Dench , said , ' You should try it . Don 't slag it off if you don 't know what you 're talking about . Get some of the words in your mouth and then you 'll understand why we all love Shakespeare so much . Henry delivered 20 lines of Othello 's last speech for the documentary and he was hooked . It gave me the feeling that I could do it . It 's almost like I had my head put on straight for me . 'This is what it 's about , it 's a serious thing , take it seriously , learn your lines , do some research . So the rehearsal process was brutal and I was reading that play for months and months before we did it . And it was a success . They seemed to expect a car crash and it didn 't quite happen . Soon he was starring in Comedy of Errors . Suddenly I 'm at the National Theatre and I just couldn 't quite believe it . There was one moment where I thought , ' Oh , you 've changed . " " There was a technical fault and Henry instinctively felt that it was his job to keep the audience entertained . " A little voice inside me said , ' You 're going to have to do 10 minutes while they fix the computer . " " Instead , the stage manager announced the performance would resume as soon as the problem was resolved . I walked off the stage and something in me went , " Oh , thank God " . It 's not my responsibility . I can let somebody else sort it out . 'You 're in a play , stay in character . " " Henry appearing in Fences at the Duchess Theatre Learning his lines for Fences was challenging . Panic 's quite good , it stiffens the sinews . That was well received too , so it 's like a big sign from the gods , saying , ' This is what you should be doing . " " He says this , of course , in a BOOMING voice . So I 'm sticking with it . I 'm really loving it . I love being in a rehearsal room . Henry still has a comedian 's brain , though - throughout , our conversation is broken with flashes of his humour as he slips in and out of impressions . I 'm just choosing not to do stand ##AT##-##AT## up because that thing of getting instant gratification from a room full of strangers I guess is kind of dangerous . If you 're constantly seeking that it can lead to a brick wall . I do Live at the Apollo sometimes when I want to , but generally it doesn 't float my boat like it used to . I ask whether he 'll ever do another stand ##AT##-##AT## up tour . The joy of sitting in a room with a director who is helping to shape a beginning , middle and end of a journey - I don 't think I 'll ever want to give that up . So this is his new incarnation ? I think so . I like being an actor . It 's good fun . You 're always telling a story and that 's a great place to be . I love stories . People love stories . Houthi rebels block roads in Yemeni capital In the conflict between the shiite Houthi rebels and the Yemen government , the Houthis have called for civil disobedience in the capital , Sanaa . Houthi supporters had occupied central roads in Sanaa on Monday , said a spokesman of the Houthi party " Ansar Allah . " Access to the parliament was blocked as well . Yemeni media report that there is traffic chaos in the capital . According to a report in the on ##AT##-##AT## line edition of the newspaper " Yemen Post " Houthi leader Abdulmalik al ##AT##-##AT## Huthi called for these actions on Sunday evening . The report said that Huthi threatened further escalation of the conflict , should his demands not be met . The shiite Houthis are fighting for more independence fro the sunni ##AT##-##AT## ruled Yemen , and are demanding that the government resign . According to the report , Houthi tribes have been besieging the Yemeni capital for almost two weeks . Around 30,000 rebels had set up protest camps on the major access routes to Sanaa . In the surrounding areas of the town , bloody clashes with the Yemeni army have continued unabated . Kenya registers civil servants to target ' ghost workers' Kenya has started biometrically registering all civil servants in an attempt to remove " ghost workers " from the government 's payroll . Employees who failed to register over the next two weeks would no longer be paid , a government statement said . The government suspects that thousands of people continue to receive salaries after leaving the civil service . President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to curb corruption in the public service after taking office in 2013 . An audit earlier this year found that at least $ 1m ( £ 700,000 ) a month was lost in payments to " ghost workers " and other financial malpractice . The government suspects that salaries continue to be deposited into bank accounts , even after a person dies or leaves the public service , reports the BBC 's Wanyama Chebusiri from the capital , Nairobi . All public servants are required to present themselves over the next two weeks at identification centres to ensure their data is captured through the biometric registration exercise , a government statement said . Anyone who failed to do so without a valid excuse would be eliminated from the payroll , it said . " This exercise will contribute significantly to the rationalization of the public service by determining the actual numbers of public servants and will also be used to cleanse the payroll at both levels of government- hence bring a stop to the issue of ' ghost workers ' , " said Anne Waiguru , the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning . The scandal surrounding arts advisor , Helge Achenbach , will be heard for the first time in court on 11 November . Five heirs of Berthold Albrecht , the son of the founder of Aldi , Theo Albrecht , are suing Achenbach and two of his companies , who are in the process of declaring themselves bankrupt , for 19.4 million euros compensation in a civil case brought before the Düsseldorf district court . The news was announced by a court spokeswoman on Monday . According to the statement of claim , when purchasing the works of art and antique cars , Achenbach conned them , and invoiced Berthold Albrecht for more than the actual sales price . In so doing , the agreed commission also turned out to be more . Achenbach purchased valuables for Albrecht for 121 million euros . Children need roots and wings He was a school teacher for 44 years , 23 of which he was the principal . During his teaching time , Manfred Richter got to know many schoolchildren who are now fully ##AT##-##AT## grown adults living in Petershausen and Kollbach . His methods were sometimes unconventional , but they were always based on his desire to see the adult in the child . Mount Sněžka is one of the best ##AT##-##AT## known peaks in the Czech Giant Mountains . Manfred Richter loves this painting of a picture from his childhood home . Richter was born in 1930 in Trautenau / Nordböhmen , today 's Trutnov . He was interested in becoming a teacher as early as the age of 14 , after he had been a secondary school pupil for four years . One year later the Germans living in the Sudetenland were dispossessed . Within half an hour , the family had to leave their home . After a few months spent in a holding camp , they moved to Bavaria in 1946 - in a goods train . That was how he came to live in Senkendorf , in Upper Franconia . The teacher training course was in Bamberg . In order to get to the school , Manfred Richter had to go six times per week on foot to the nearest train station ; take the train to Bamberg ; from there walk three kilometres right across the town to the school ; and then make the return journey home . After two months . Manfred Richter was given a bed to sleep at the Red Cross Home in Bamberg , in a sleeping quarter that he shared with 15 fellow students . In 1951 , he took his first state exam , and his second in 1954 , after spending three further years as a teaching candidate . Since Upper Franconia had no free teaching place for him , he applied to Upper Bavaria and received a post on 1 November 1954 at a school in Kollbach . The " Young Women 's Room " was his first " Service Flat " in the school building . In 1958 , he moved into the new ##AT##-##AT## build teacher accommodation next door to the school , into a three ##AT##-##AT## room service flat . Manfred Richter bought this house in 1980 , after the school in Kollbach was closed in 1968 . Until then , the school district association of Petershausen ##AT##-##AT## Kollbach had three classes in Kollbach and five in Petershausen . In the school year of 1968 / 69 , these classes were accommodated in Petershausen , in today 's town hall . When the Indersdorf Schools Association was founded , the only school left in the locality was the primary school . In order to avoid a deranking of position in the now smaller school , the then dean , Georg Sigl decided to move to Karlsfeld - and Manfred Richter became his successor . However , Petershausen continued to grow , and so the children and their teachers , from September 1982 onwards , could move into the present ##AT##-##AT## day building , which has since been extended , after Richter took his retirement . Manfred Richter praises the uncomplicated manner and spirit of generosity of the then Mayor , Ludwig Götz , who was able to secure municipal funds to build an additional work ##AT##-##AT## room and extra rooms in the cellar as part of the 1997 extensions - although the council guidelines governing school ##AT##-##AT## building work did not allow subsidies to be used to pay for this work . " Mayor Götz was a great friend of the school , " recalls Richter , with gratitude . Throughout his whole career , Manfred Richter never forgot a reply given in a speech by a government representative , in answer to a presentation given by the schools council on law and justice : " One should never forget to love " . Manfred Richter duly implemented what he had heard as a young teacher . " One has to give children two things : Roots and wings , " says the 84 year ##AT##-##AT## old . But experience has also taught him that : " One doesn 't always achieve that . " Whether by that he means his pupils or his own six children , is unclear . In any case , Richter 's methods were at times unconventional . If school children got into fights , they were not given punishments like , for example , writing out lines or serving a detention . At the cost of the council , Richter bought two pairs of boxing gloves , and then let the two antagonists fight it out , even if this did occasionally produce a black ##AT##-##AT## eye . For the benefit of the school , Richter nurtured a good relationship with the then Mayor , Ludwig Götz ( CSU ) . Following his retirement , Richter , who had no political allegiances , was encouraged by the Mayor to run for election onto the local council as a candidate for the CSU in 1996 . However , Richter finished in sixth and joined the CSU . 180 kilometres in three days HR4 ##AT##-##AT## CYCLE TOUR 700 cyclists are taking a breather in the health resort of Bad Salzhausen and Schotten There is nothing particular out of the ordinary about touring cyclists take a rest in Bad Salzhausen or in Schotten . However , on Friday , the sheer numbers of those resting up was striking : The 700 participants of the hr4 cycle tour , together with their entourages , were all enjoying a break in the lower resort of Bad Salzhausen , and they would later be attending an open air party in the Alteburgpark in Schotten , too . Under the logo " Cycling and celebrating along the newly ##AT##-##AT## discovered routes between Nidda and Kinzig , " the participants had met up on Thursday in Bad Vilbel and had listened to a concert there by Van Baker & Band . On Friday it was down to business : The riders set out to attack the first stage - 60 kilometres via Florstadt to Bad Salzhausen and then further on to Schotten . In Bad Salzhausen , the sportsmen ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## women were greeted by mayor Hans ##AT##-##AT## Peter Seum , who had ridden off the start ##AT##-##AT## line in Bad Vilbel on his own bike , and the boss of the municipal company Bad Salzhausen , Petra Schwing ##AT##-##AT## Döring . All sorts of food and drink had been prepared , to refresh body and mind : The local women from Ranstadt and Nieder ##AT##-##AT## Mockstadt had baked 85 apple- , plum- and cheesecakes - as well as streusel cake which the intrepid riders let melt in their mouths . " Such cakes only the local women can make , " praised the rider from Aulendiebach , at the same time as he ordered another slice . At the drinks stand of the Geiß-Nidda gymnasium club , the riders could acquire cold drinks . The " Duo Bravo " entertained the visitors with well ##AT##-##AT## known melodies from Operettas and Musicals and reaped enthusiastic applause . The lovely atmosphere in the Park had a relaxing effect . One gentleman even received a head ##AT##-##AT## massage from his lady partner : " He certainly earned it - after all , he had to fix a bicycle chain that had come off , earlier in the day . " Meanwhile , the mayor and the company boss still had work to do : They were interviewed at the fountain in front of the watering ##AT##-##AT## hole inn , the Trinkkurhaus , by reporter , Rainer Janke , and took their radio opportunity to give a big thumbs up for Bad Salzhausen . Even head of promotions , Tobias Hagen , who had worked as tour head since it first started in 2004 , could only get a short rest , as he had a lot of work to do involving the local technology . His pick ##AT##-##AT## up truck , in which he used three telephones and a radio to communicate with his colleagues and a 15 ##AT##-##AT## strong Hessen Police team ; made Facebook entries and also wrote his reports , also needed a check . " The majority of riders come from the Rhein ##AT##-##AT## Main ##AT##-##AT## Region , " he explained , " but riders have also come from Gießen and Fulda , from Lauterbach or from the Taunus and even from many towns in Westfalia . The number of participants depends a little on the number of places where they can stay . Category 1 riders are accommodated in hotels , with Category 2 riders being put up in hostel ##AT##-##AT## style lodging . As the riders set out again on the road , they had a good impression and happy memories of the resort : " Bye ! " " It was very nice in Bad Salzhausen ! " they shouted , as they waved goodbye . After arriving in Schotten , the group could take a short rest . But then in the evening , the riders were requested to go to the idyllic Alteburgpark . Under the guidance of manager of the Schotten Association for Tourism and Town Marketing ( GTS ) the Park had acquired a lovely festive ambience and , of course , there were plenty of nice nibbles , such as Flammkuchen with well ##AT##-##AT## chilled Federweißer wine , too . Mayoress Susanne Schaab , GTS ##AT##-##AT## boss , Markus Hoßfeld and MSC ##AT##-##AT## Chairman , Wolfgang Wagner ##AT##-##AT## Sachs , in his capacity as board member of the Hessen ##AT##-##AT## Thüringen section of the ADAC welcomed the visitors . The three were visibly delighted by the " roaring trade in Schotten . " DJ Tobias Hagen opened the dancing stage . The cyclists were happy to have the chance to show off their dancing movements in the open air - despite their sporting feats on their bicycles earlier in the day . The appeared among the guests an increasing number of local people , who were as attracted by the pleasant atmosphere as much as the mass crowd of riders . On the second day of the tour program , the riders would call at the stopping points of Birstein ; Wächtersbach ; and Bad Orb - including a concert with the Trenkwaldern . Yesterday , after 180 kilometres of cycling , the sportsmen ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## women arrived back in Bad Vilbel once again . Tens of Turkish Policemen Arrested over ' Plotting ' against Gov 't A total of 33 police officers have been detained in Turkey on suspicions of ' plotting against the government ' , local media outlets say . Police officials have not immediately commented . Among the detainees were 14 high ##AT##-##AT## ranking officers , according to Hurriyet Daily News . Some of them were involved in last December 's corruption probes targeting government officials , including four government ministers . In July a number of Turkish policemen were arrested for allegedly having set up an organized criminal gang and having tapped phone number . Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ( who was Prime Minister back then ) described their actions as part of activity conducted by Islamist cleric Fethullah Gullen against him and others in power . Not all children back to school in Ukraine Schools across most of Ukraine reopened their doors on Monday ( September 1 ) , after the summer holidays . The day is traditionally a big one for families , and like thousands of other Ukrainian parents , Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk took his daughter to school . While there , he told waiting journalists that not all schools had reopened , but that he was committed to defending the country for future generations : The first of September ceremony was not held in every school . There is not a peaceful sky over every part of Ukraine . We must fight for a peaceful sky . The whole of Ukraine , a huge joint Ukrainian 's people 's front , must fight for a peaceful sky . Aleksan Pastukhov , the head teacher of Slaviansk School , attended by Yatsenyuk 's daughter , spoke in Russian . We hope that peace will finally be established here and that children will receive knowledge that will be useful in their future lives . The first day back at school is traditionally celebrated by children wearing embroidered shirts , carrying balloons and giving flowers to their teachers . In Rona Fairhead , the BBC may have found the formidable chief it needs She comes trailing clouds of glory from the world of banking , media management and the inner conclaves of the Tory party . Indeed , she has had frontline experience of her own . Her career began at global management consultants Bain and Co , then progressed via Morgan Stanley , Bombadier , ICI and the media world of Pearsons . She was chief executive of the Financial Times for seven years , resigning when the top job at its parent company Pearson 's went to a junior male colleague . Her pay ##AT##-##AT## off is said to be close to £ 1 million . Her political rating is sturdy , too . She was recommended to David Cameron by Lord Browne , the former head of BP , when he was looking to bring private expertise into Whitehall : she became a cabinet office adviser . Her husband is a former Tory councillor . Back in May , I described the chairman 's job as a poisoned chalice . Not only is the BBC a vast and complex entity at the heart of public life , but there is an inner paradox to its structure . The trust faces in two directions : inwards as the upper tier of the BBC 's own management hierarchy , but also outwards as the voice of public concern and disquiet when things go awry . This is an almost untenable duopoly calling for complete root ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## branch reform . But what incoming chairman would risk coming in , crashing around and dismantling an institution as complex as a Chinese dynasty in case they put themselves out of a job in the process . It 's a difficult call . If that weren 't tough enough , plenty of people are keen to see the BBC cut down in size - its power , its finances and its status overhauled . As competitors circle ever closer and new technology challenges cosy old certainties , the imminent negotiation of the licence fee is fraught with especial danger for the BBC . For the modest sum of £ 145.50 a year , the British public buys into what is surely the greatest media enterprise in the world . The BBC tells a good story : it claims that its output reaches 96 per cent of households , and costs each one of them just 40p a day . What 's more , apparently the Beeb 's popularity is rising : 53 per cent support today as against 31 per cent 10 years ago . Patterns of watching and using the BBC have changed : I receive news headlines on my mobile phone these days , and catch up on missed programmes with iPlayer . But it remains a much ##AT##-##AT## loved and formidable institution . It needs a formidable chairman - I hope it has found one . Texas ' Perry Says Disparaging Tweet Unauthorized A tweet from Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry 's verified account on Sunday night included a disparaging image of the Democratic district attorney who is at the center of his criminal indictment on charges of abuse of power . The tweet was later deleted , followed by another from Perry 's account that disavowed the post . A tweet just went out from my account that was unauthorized . " I do not condone the tweet and I have taken it down , " the later post said . Perry aides did not immediately return messages seeking comment . Although the tweets were sent from Perry 's verified account , it was unclear who does the actual posting for the feed . The earlier tweet posted an unflattering mock image of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg , who was convicted of drunken driving in April 2013 . Perry vetoed funds to her office when she refused to resign , which led to a grand jury in Austin this month indicting Perry - who is a potential 2016 presidential candidate . The caption on the tweet reads : " I don 't always drive drunk at 3x the legal blood alcohol limit ... but when I do , I indict Gov. Perry for calling me out about it . " I am the most drunk Democrat in Texas . Lehmberg 's office did not lead the grand jury investigation against Perry . It was handled by Michael McCrum , a San Antonio ##AT##-##AT## based special prosecutor who was assigned by a Republican judge . Perry has pleaded not guilty and called the charges a political ploy . His high ##AT##-##AT## powered legal team has asked the judge overseeing the case to dismiss the indictment , claiming that the law being used to prosecute the longest ##AT##-##AT## serving governor in Texas history is unconstitutionally vague . Perry cut off $ 7.5 million in state funds to the state 's Public Integrity Unit - which is based in Travis County and prosecutes public corruption in Texas - when Lehmberg refused to resign . That veto drew a formal complaint from a left ##AT##-##AT## leaning watchdog group . Perry 's verified account is updated frequently - and sometimes famously . After finishing in fifth place in the Iowa caucuses during his 2012 presidential campaign , Perry addressed speculation that he might call it quits with a tweet of a photo of himself jogging near a lake , and the words , " Here we come South Carolina ! " Berkeley says housing market back to " normal " One of London 's most prominent property developers has warned that the housing market in southeast England has " reverted " to normal levels of activity . Homes in the capital have been the subject of red ##AT##-##AT## hot demand and surging prices , with widespread fears of a credit bubble prompting the Bank of England to impose limits on mortgage borrowing in June . Tony Pidgley , founder and chairman of upmarket housebuilder Berkeley , on Monday said : " Since the start of the current financial year , the market has reverted to normal transaction levels from the high point in 2013 , " adding that this offered a " stable operating environment . " London 's property market fared well during the downturn as foreign buyers piled into the capital . Prices in the city have leapt 18.5 per cent in the past year alone , according to Land Registry data , far outstripping the 6.7 per cent average for England and Wales as a whole . Average selling prices on Berkeley 's private , affordable and student schemes have risen by about a fifth in the past year , reaching £ 423,000 at the end of April . However , a strengthening pound has in recent months made London property less attractive to foreign buyers - some of whom have also been deterred by the introduction of new property taxes and political rhetoric around a potential " mansion tax " ahead of the general election next May . London estate agent Foxtons last week warned that April 's Mortgage Market Review , which introduced tougher lending rules , would also spark lower rates of market growth in both property sales transactions and prices during the second half of the year . Fresh data from the Bank of England on Monday showed a drop in the number of mortgage approvals in July , further suggesting the housing market is cooling . Hamptons International , another estate agent , has cut its 2015 forecast for London property price growth to 3 per cent on the basis that house price sentiment is already starting to weaken . Transaction volumes have meanwhile dropped by a quarter year on year in London 's most expensive postcodes , such as Chelsea , Mayfair and Kensington , according to agent WA Ellis . Still , appetite for homes in the capital has been a boon to Berkeley , pushing up cash due on forward sales to more than £ 2.2bn. Mr Pidgley added : " Demand for the right product with good design in the best locations has remained resilient and , reflecting this , forward sales have been maintained . " In June the company reported it had sold 3,742 new homes in the year to the end of April - almost a third more than the pre ##AT##-##AT## crisis peak in 2007 . Annual pre ##AT##-##AT## tax profits rose 40 per cent year on year to £ 380m , on revenues up 18 per cent to £ 1.6bn. Speaking on Monday ahead of the company 's annual meeting , Mr Pidgley said Berkeley 's earnings for the year were anticipated to be in line with current market expectations . Analyst consensus is for full ##AT##-##AT## year pre ##AT##-##AT## tax profit of £ 450m . Berkeley shares were flat at £ 23.96 in afternoon London trading . Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence leaked online by hacker Jennifer Lawrence arrives at the 85th annual Academy Awards . Nude photos of Oscar ##AT##-##AT## winning actress Jennifer Lawrence have been leaked online by a hacker who claimed to have a " master list " of images of 100 other starlets . A representative for the star of " The Hunger Games " confirmed the photos of Lawrence were real and blasted the hacker for " a flagrant violation of privacy . " The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence . The photos , which originally were posted on the image ##AT##-##AT## sharing site 4chan , were purportedly obtained through a weakness in Apple 's iCloud online storage system , and a purported " master list " of the hacking victims includes the names of dozens of female stars , including Rihanna , Kim Kardashian , Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Mary ##AT##-##AT## Kate Olsen , according to BuzzFeed . It is not clear how many of the images are authentic , though " Scott Pilgrim vs. the World " star Winstead took to Twitter to denounce the hack as well . " To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home , hope you feel great about yourselves , " Winstead tweeted . However , Victoria Justice , of the Nickolodeon series " iCarly " and " Victorious , " denied that the photos were of her , tweeting , " These so called nudes of me are FAKE people . Let me nip this in the bud right now . * pun intended * . Buzzfeed reported late Sunday that a spokesman for pop star Ariana Grande denied that purported photos of her were authentic . Exclusive extract from Howard Jacobson 's acclaimed new novel about love and the letter ' J' They dissolved , that was the best way of putting it , they gradually came apart like a cardboard box that had been left out in the rain . Just occasionally a woman told him he was too serious , hard ##AT##-##AT## going , intense , detached , and maybe a bit prickly . And then shook his hand . He recognised prickly . He was spiny , like a hedgehog , yes . The latest casualty of this spininess was an embryo ##AT##-##AT## affair that had given greater promise than usual of relieving the lonely tedium of his life , and perhaps even bringing him some content . Ailinn Solomons was a wild ##AT##-##AT## haired , quiveringly delicate beauty with a fluttering heart from a northern island village more remote and rugged even than Port Reuben . She had come south with an older companion whom Kevern took to be her aunt , the latter having been left a property in a wet but paradisal valley called , felicitously , Paradise Valley . No one had lived in the house for several years . The pipes leaked , there were spiders still in the baths , slugs had signed their signatures on all the windows , believing the place belonged to them , the garden was overgrown with weeds that resembled giant cabbages . It was like a children 's story cottage , threatening and enchanting at the same time , the garden full of secrets . Author 's view : Howard Jacobson , whose novel " J " is longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014 . The shortlist is announced next week Kevern had been sitting holding hands with Ailinn on broken deckchairs in the long grass , enjoying an unexpectedly warm spring afternoon , the pair of them absent ##AT##-##AT## mindedly plugged into the utility console that supplied the country with soothing music and calming news , when the sight of her crossed brown legs reminded him of an old song by a long ##AT##-##AT## forgotten black entertainer his father had liked listening to with the cottage blinds down . Your feet 's too big . On account of their innate aggressiveness , songs of that sort were no longer played on the console . Not banned - nothing was banned exactly - simply not played . Encouraged to fall into desuetude , like the word desuetude . Popular taste did what edict and proscription could never have done , and just as , when it came to books , the people chose rags ##AT##-##AT## to ##AT##-##AT## riches memoirs , cookbooks and romances , so , when it came to music , they chose ballads . Carried away by the day , Kevern began to play at an imaginary piano and in a rudely comic voice serenade Ailinn 's big feet . Ailinn didn 't understand . " It was a popular song by a jazz pianist called Fats Waller , " he told her , automatically putting two fingers to his lips . This his father had always done to stifle the letter j before it left his lips . It had begun as a game between them when he was small . His father had played it with his own father , he 'd told him . Begin a word with a j without remembering to put two fingers across your mouth and it cost you a penny . It had not been much fun then and it was not much fun now . He knew it was expected of him , that was all . He had to explain what jazz was . Ailinn had never heard any . Jazz , too , without exactly being proscribed , wasn 't played . Improvisation had fallen out of fashion . There was room for only one " if " in life . People wanted to be sure , when a tune began , exactly where it was going to end . Wit , the same . Its unpredictability unsettled people 's nerves . And jazz was wit expressed musically . Though he reached the age of 10 without having heard of Sammy Davis Junior , Kevern knew of jazz from his father 's semi ##AT##-##AT## secret collection of old CDs . But at least he didn 't have to tell Ailinn that Fats Waller was black . Given her age , she was unlikely to have remembered a time when popular singers weren 't black . Again , no laws or duress . A compliant society meant that every section of it consented with gratitude - the gratitude of the providentially spared - to the principle of group aptitude . People of Afro ##AT##-##AT## Caribbean origin were suited by temperament and physique to entertainment and athletics , and so they sang and sprinted . People originally from the Indian subcontinent , electronically gifted as though by nature , undertook to ensure no family was without a functioning utility phone . What was left of the Polish community plumbed ; what was left of the Greek smashed plates . Those from the Gulf States and the Levant whose grandparents hadn 't quickly left the country while WHAT HAPPENED , IF IT HAPPENED was happening - fearing they 'd be accused of having stoked the flames , fearing , indeed , that the flames would consume them next - opened labneh and shisha ##AT##-##AT## pipe restaurants , kept their heads down , and grew depressed with idleness . To each according to his gifts . Having heard only ballads , Ailinn was hard pressed to understand how the insulting words Kevern had just sung to her could ever have been set to music . Music was the expression of love . " They 're not really insulting , " Kevern said . Except maybe to people whose feet are too big . My father never insulted anybody , but he delighted in this song . He was saying too much , but the garden 's neglect gave the illusion of safety . No word could get beyond the soundproofing of the giant cabbage ##AT##-##AT## like leaves . Ailinn still didn 't comprehend . Why would your father have loved something like that ? He wanted to say it was a joke , but was reluctant , in her company , to put two fingers to his lips again . She already thought he was strange . " It struck him as funny , " he said instead . She shook her head in disbelief , blotting out Kevern 's vision . Nothing to see in the whole wide world but her haystack of crow ##AT##-##AT## black hair . Nothing else he wanted to see . " If you say so , " she said , unconvinced . But that still doesn 't explain why you 're singing it to me . She seemed in genuine distress . Are my feet too big ? He looked again . Your feet specifically , no . Your ankles , maybe , a bit ... And you say you hate me because my ankles are too thick ? Hate you ? Of course I don 't hate you . That 's just the silly song . He could have said , " I love you , " but it was too soon for that . " Your thick ankles are the very reason I 'm attracted to you , " he tried instead . I 'm perverse that way . It came out wrong . He had meant it to be funny . Meaning to be funny often landed him in a mess because , like his father , he lacked the reassuring charm necessary to temper the cruelty that lurked in jokes . Maybe his father intended to be cruel . Maybe he , Kevern , did . Despite his kind eyes . Ailinn Solomons flushed and rose from her deckchair , knocking over the console and spilling the wine they 'd been drinking . Elderflower wine , so drink wasn 't his excuse . In her agitation she seemed to tremble , like the fronds of a palm tree in a storm . " And your thick head 's the very reason I 'm perversely attracted to you , " she said ... Except that I 'm not . He felt sorry for her , both on account of the unnecessary unkindness of his words and the fear that showed in her eyes in the moment of her standing up to him . Did she think he 'd strike her ? She hadn 't spoken to him about life on the chill northern archipelago where she had grown up , but he didn 't doubt it was in all essentials similar to here . The same vast and icy ocean crashed in on them both . The same befuddled men , even more thin ##AT##-##AT## skinned and peevish in the aftermath of WHAT HAPPENED than their smuggler and wrecker ancestors had been , roamed angrily from pub to pub , ready to raise a hand to any woman who dared to refuse or twit them . Thick head ? They 'd show her a thick fist , if she wasn 't careful ! Snog her first - the snog having become the most common expression of erotic irritation between men and women ; an antidote to the bland ballads of love the console pumped out - snog her first and cuff her later . An unnecessary refinement in Kevern 's view , since a snog was itself an act of thuggery . Ailinn Solomons made a sign with her body for him to leave . He heaved himself out of the deckchair like an old man . She felt leaden herself , but the weight of his grief surprised her . This wasn 't the end of the world . They barely knew each other . She watched him go - as at an upstairs window her companion watched him go - a man made heavy by what he 'd brought on himself . Adam leaving the garden , she thought . She felt a pang for him and for men in general , no matter that some had raised their hands to her . A man turned from her , his back bent , ashamed , defeated , all the fight in him leaked away - why was that a sight she felt she knew so well , when she couldn 't recall a single instance , before today , of having seen it ? Alone again , Ailinn Solomons looked at her feet . A score or so years before the events related above , Esme Nussbaum , an intelligent and enthusiastic 32 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old researcher employed by Ofnow , the non ##AT##-##AT## statutory monitor of the Public Mood , prepared a short paper on the continuance of low- and medium ##AT##-##AT## level violence in those very areas of the country where its reduction , if not its cessation , was most to have been expected , given the money and energy expended on uprooting it . " Much has been done , and much continues to be done , " she wrote , " to soothe the native aggressiveness of a people who have fought a thousand wars and won most of them , especially in those twisted knarls and narrow crevices of the country where , though the spires of churches soar above the hedgerows , the sweeter breath of human kindness has , historically , been rarely felt . But some qualities are proving to be ineradicable . The higher the spire , it would seem , the lower the passions it goes on engendering . The populace weeps to sentimental ballads , gorges on stories of adversity overcome , and professes to believe ardently in the virtues of marriage and family life , but not only does the old brutishness retain a pertinacious hold equally on rural communities as on our urban conurbations , evidence suggests the emergence of a new and vicious quarrelsomeness in the home , in the workplace , on our roads and even on our playing fields . " You have an unfortunate tendency to overwrite , " her supervisor said when he had read the whole report . May I suggest you read fewer novels . Esme Nussbaum lowered her head . I must also enquire : are you an atheist ? " I believe I am not obliged to say , " Esme Nussbaum replied . Are you a lesbian ? Again Esme protested her right to privacy and silence . A feminist ? Silence once more . " I don 't ask , " Luther Rabinowitz said at last , " because I have an objection to atheism , lesbianism or feminism . This is a prejudice ##AT##-##AT## free workplace . We are the servants of a prejudice ##AT##-##AT## free society . But certain kinds of hypersensitivity , while entirely acceptable and laudable in themselves , may sometimes distort findings such as you have presented to me . You are obviously yourself prejudiced against the church ; and those things you call " vicious " and " brutish , " others could as soon interpret as expressions of natural vigour and vitality . To still be harping on about WHAT HAPPENED , IF IT HAPPENED , as though it happened , if it happened , yesterday , is to sap the country of its essential life force . Esme Nussbaum looked around her while Rabinowitz spoke . Behind his head a flamingo pink LED scroll repeated the advice Ofnow had been dispensing to the country for the last quarter of a century or more . Smile at your neighbour , cherish your spouse , listen to ballads , go to musicals , use your telephone , converse , explain , listen , agree , apologise . Talk is better than silence , the sung word is better than the written , but nothing is better than love . " I fully understand the points you are making , " Esme Nussbaum replied in a quiet voice , once she was certain her supervisor had finished speaking , " and I am saying no more than that we are not healed as effectively as we delude ourselves we are . My concern is that , if we are not forewarned , we will find ourselves repeating the mistakes that led to WHAT HAPPENED , IF IT HAPPENED , in the first place . Only this time it will not be on others that we vent our anger and mistrust . Luther Rabinowitz made a pyramid of his fingers . This was to suggest infinite patience . " You go too far , " he said , " in describing as " mistakes " actions which our grandparents might or might not have taken . You go too far , as well , in speaking of them venting their " anger " and " mistrust " on " others . " It should not be necessary to remind someone in your position that in understanding the past , as in protecting the present , we do not speak of " us " and " them . " There was no " we " and there were no " others . " It was a time of disorder , that is all we know of it . " In which , if we are honest with ourselves , " Esme dared to interject , " no section of society can claim to have acquitted itself well . I make no accusations . Whether it was done ill , or done well , what was done was done . Then was then . No more needs to be said - on this we agree . And just as there is no blame to be apportioned , so there are no amends to be made , were amends appropriate and were there any way of making them . But what is the past for if not to learn from it - The past exists in order that we forget it . If I may add one word to that - Luther Rabinowitz collapsed his pyramid . " I will consider your report , " he said , dismissing her . The next day , turning up for work as usual , she was knocked down by a motorcyclist who had mounted the pavement in what passers ##AT##-##AT## by described as a " vicious rage . " Coincidences happen . Lesotho military says no coup planned ; PM stays in South Africa Lesotho military officials denied staging a coup to overthrow the government , saying they were acting against police suspected of trying to arm political fanatics . Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled the country , saying the country 's military had surrounded his official home and seized government buildings in the capital of Maseru . The premier took his family to neighboring South Africa after saying he received an assassination threat . Military spokesman Major Ntlele Ntoi said there was not , in fact , a coup , but that the military was responding to a threat from " political fanatics " whom police were attempting to arm . " What happened this morning was that the command of the Lesotho Defense Force was acting after receiving several intelligence reports that amongst the police service , there are some elements who are actually planning to arm some of the political , party political youth fanatics who were on the verge of wreaking havoc , " he told Voice of America . South African government spokesman Clayson Monyela said the military 's actions had the appearance at an overthrow . " Although no one has claimed to have taken over government through the use of force , by all accounts the activities of the Lesotho defense force thus far bear the hallmarks of a coup d 'etat , " he said . Lesotho military officials said soldiers returned to their barracks Sunday and there was calm in the capital . Meanwhile , Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing in control of the government in Thabane 's absence . Thabane said he believes he is being targeted due to his attempt to fight corruption in the country . Tensions have been high in Lesotho since June when Thabane suspended parliament sessions due to feuding in his unity government . He said his actions have not undermined the government , despite allegations otherwise . Eurozone manufacturing at 13 ##AT##-##AT## month low Manufacturing growth in the eurozone slowed to a 13 ##AT##-##AT## month low in August , according to a closely ##AT##-##AT## watched survey . The final Markit 's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers ' Index ( PMI ) dipped to 50.7 in August , down from 51.8 in July . A figure above 50 indicates expansion . New orders dwindled and factories suffered amid rising tensions between the EU and Russia over Ukraine . The figures come ahead of the European Central Bank ( ECB ) meeting on Thursday . Markets will be looking for a clear plan from the bank to deal with a stalled eurozone recovery , as well as the threat of deflation with inflation standing at just 0.3 % . There is speculation that ECB boss Mario Draghi could offer further indications later this week that he is considering a quantitative easing scheme for the eurozone , similar to those taken by the UK and US during the financial crisis . " Although some growth is better than no growth at all , the braking effect of rising economic and geopolitical uncertainties on manufacturers is becoming more visible , " said Rob Dobson , senior economist at Markit . The factory PMI for Germany , Russia 's biggest trade partner in the EU , fell to an 11 ##AT##-##AT## month low of 51.4 . Meanwhile , in the bloc 's second ##AT##-##AT## largest economy , France , the PMI fell to 46.9 . France remains a real concern , as does Italy 's descent from solid expansion to stagnation . Signs that growth impetus waned in the key industrial engine of Germany , and in Spain and the Netherlands too , is also less than reassuring , " Mr Dobson said . The slowdown in industry is likely to add further fuel to the fire for analysts expecting additional monetary or fiscal stimulus to be implemented . One positive note was from the Republic of Ireland , which saw its PMI grow to 57.3 , its highest level since the end of 1999 . Howard Archer , chief economist at IHS Global Insight , said : " The best that can be said for the August eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers ' survey is that it indicates that the sector is still growing . " He added : " Eurozone manufacturers are clearly finding life very difficult at the moment as current heightened geopolitical tensions - particularly related to Russia / Ukraine - add uncertainty to still challenging conditions in many countries . This heightened uncertainty has clearly hit business - especially , and consumer confidence , and it is likely causing some orders to be delayed or even cancelled , particularly big ##AT##-##AT## ticket orders . He said it was looking " ever more likely " that the ECB would ultimately have to undertake some form of QE , " although we suspect that it will be limited . " The Beslan survivors ' decade of hell : Ten years since the horrific school siege , how the children caught up in it are still suffering Ten years ago over 1,000 people were taken hostage by Chechen militants at a school in Beslan , southern Russia More than 330 people , more than half of them children , were killed in the three ##AT##-##AT## day ordeal that shocked the world We went back to Beslan to find some of the victims who cheated death in the classroom atrocity Exactly a decade after the appalling Beslan school siege in which 334 perished , including 186 children , the heroic survivors warned last night of a new apocalypse in Ukraine . When fanatic Islamic terrorists kidnapped and killed children and parents on 1 September 2004 , at the start of a new term , it seemed like the nadir of all evil . The tragedy united east and west in revulsion , which amazingly then turned to action and hope for the future in the direst misery . Ten years on , we went back to Beslan in southern Russia to find some of the victims who cheated death in the classroom atrocity . We discovered amazing young people , who have defied adversity , though the memory of this terrorist hell will live with them forever . Their greatest hope ? That the war now scarring Ukraine - in which children like them are dying - will now stop . The girl pictured trying to climb back inside the blitzed school gym She was famously snapped by top Russian photographer Dmitry Beliakov wearing only her underwear as tried to climb back inside the blitzed school gym after a mine exploded . Bewildered , Aida was desperately searching for her mother , Larissa , now 40 . Both were feared dead , but in fact they survived . 'A woman told me to run for my life but I couldn 't , ' said Aida at the time . My legs were covered in blood . I got up and climbed back in to look for my mum . A soldier plucked her to safety . After a series of surgeries , she thought she had totally recovered but said yesterday : ' Three months ago , the pain came back . I fear I may need more surgery . Some shrapnel pieces are still in my knee . Her aim now is to become a dentist , to help people as she has been aided by medics . 'This tragedy changed my life but it surely did not break it , ' she said defiantly . 'It happened to me and you can 't change this fact . Once a year I always go to the gym to recall those who remained there . My friends and I try not to talk about it on other days . The pain is too much . My best friend and my classmate ##AT##-##AT## to ##AT##-##AT## be Dzera Gapoeva was killed there . We played together when we were small and dreamed of going to school together . 'I don 't want to marry until I finish my studies and start my career . I will think about a family later . She says the siege remains with her though memories fade a little each year . I am pleased that many people in the world still remember our troubles and we are so grateful for the help we got from people in Britain and everywhere . When I see online the photograph of me climbing into the school window , I think that many people will see it for the first time , understand about our disaster , and stop this from happening any more . The boy who fled through a hail of bullets believing his mother to be dead He was on his first day at school ( Russians start school aged 7 ) and survived the three day siege hugging his mum Tamara . Then seven he said : ' Mummy told me to lie down if there was an explosion and hold her hand.' After one explosion he thought she was dying . She told him : ' Run ' . Fearing she was dead , he fled and on his way he saw a crying toddler , grabbed the child by the hand , and fled through a hail of bullets . His dad Vladimir , who scooped up his son outside , said : ' Damir told me his mother had died . He said : ' I couldn 't save her ' .' In fact , Tamara had stumbled free and was in hospital with leg wounds , in turn believing her son had perished . After their reunion she said : ' I wept with joy . I couldn 't believe it . He ran in and hugged me . Damir was later flown to London ( by the now defunct News of the World newspaper ) to be crowned a Barnardo 's Children 's Champion by then premier Tony Blair and wife wife Cherie . 'This horror comes back to you every day , but I wish I could stop recalling it , ' he said yesterday . Still I can say that in my mind it is fading . I remember right afterwards , I threw away all my toy guns . But now I can play computer games with shooting and it is not a problem for me . 'I 'm not scared to go back in the gym but I don 't think about myself . I remember those kids I used to play with in the yard who never got out . We never say they were killed or dead . We say they stayed in the gym . I remember my trip to London so well , specially the toy shop where I was allowed to pick anything I wanted , and riding in an open top car . But now he fears for places like Ukraine where wars cause the kind of misery he and his friends suffered . This horror comes back to you every day , but I wish I could stop recalling it 'I feel so sorry for all those who suffer from these horrors , ' said Damir , who was last week doing voluntary work at a nunnery . I want to help so much . I want to serve in the police one day and hope they enrol me to the training academy next year . His mother Tamara , 48 , said : ' 37 kids were killed in our neighbourhood , can you imagine ? I remember terrible silence right after the siege , there were just no children to shout and run around , and that silence lasted for many months . She vividly recalls her trip with Damir to London . People in London were crying when I told our story . I realised then how folk on the other side of the world can understand our feelings , can show their support . She was grateful to ' Cherie Blair and her foundation for that award and the opportunity to go to London in autumn 2004 . I wish I could call Cherie and just say it myself that 10 years have gone but I still remember meeting her and her husband in London , and how that helped Damir and me . I remember when Damir wanted to eat borsch soup , they called all the local Russian restaurants . I remember how he was playing with waiters in a restaurant , Damir was shooting at them from his water pistol and they ran away and played with him . And we were just one month away from our horror then . I was amazed that the British people were so ready to share our pain and to support us . She said : ' I keep thinking this world did not get better within these 10 years . Now in Ukraine the war goes on , people are dying every day , and I believe many children were killed and will be killed . They are just the same children , like ours . I think for many people the war is a news report they listen to when they are bored or busy with something else . I just know what those people feel , the horror of it . And I can 't stop feeling it . Nothing has changed , people still want to kill each other and it is so sad . Damir grew up and became a very gentle and calm boy , he is not at all aggressive or angry . He is not seeking revenge for example , he is not preoccupied with this past horror . I know that he does not like to recall it but he is very close with six classmates and they go to the gym from time to time and light candles there . When he was smaller he suffered from it - I remember he used to lie down on the sofa with his face turned away from us , for hours at a time . Not sleeping , his eyes were open . I also remember how he threw away all his guns and other army ##AT##-##AT## type toys.Damir is 17 now , taller than me , nice looking , clever and healthy . I can hardly believe that for some hours I was so sure he was dead and I 'd never see him again . When I managed to recover after the explosion and got on my feet I looked around , I saw the hell around me , when body parts were lying everywhere . I was absolutely sure that there was no way my little boy could have survived in this hell . 'I remember I was shouting to him ' Damir , run , run away ' but again I was so sure he had not heard me . But he did hear , and he did run away . So life goes on for us unlike for so many . Georgy Ilyin , 17 The boy whose shocking image after the siege came to define the horror of Beslan Comfort : Beslan survivor Georgy Ilyin with his mum Fatima after the siege in 2004 , while on the right is Georgy today His bloodstained face was etched with fear as he ran for his life as Chechen terrorists gunned down his classmates . His picture was one of the most shocking symbols of the barbarity at Beslan . His mother Fatima , 54 , a senior GP , had dropped him for his first day at school before rushing to take her elder son Vladimir to university . 'I left two minutes before the terrorists rushed into the yard , so my little boy was left there alone for three days of horror , ' she recalled . Not completely alone , we had a family of relatives there but all of them were killed . Only my Georgy managed to survive . The closer this date is , the harder it is to think and talk about it . There is no single day when we do not recall this tragedy . We do not feel it was long ago , I think it happened yesterday , some scenes from those days come to my mind all the time . Nobody will ever forget , I promise you . Haunting : The image of Georgy ( left ) was one of the most shocking of the attack and has been immortalised in a statue ( right ) I remember Georgy so much wanted to go to school on that day , he said he wanted to hug his teacher . I only got to know he was alive when I saw him TV . And now there is even a statue to crying Georgy in San Marino . Georgy does not like to look at this picture and it is hidden it in the bookcase in our home . I understand , but I also think that thanks to this picture people from all over the world feel our pain . Georgy says now : ' It 's important this can never happen again . 'I doubt we 'll ever know the truth . People keep investigating such tragedies and never know the truth . Now they are investigating this Boeing crash in Ukraine . Will we ever know what caused it ? This world is moving to something very bad . 'I can 't understand how it happens , because if you ask people , no ##AT##-##AT## one wants a war , so how does it happen ? Ten years is nothing for such pain . We need dozens of years to pass in order to forget it a little . It affected my health and I still feel it . For about three or four years I had some nightmares because of the siege but then it got better . I got back to school later in 2004 , I was very scared every day . I was thinking about my friends and classmates who were killed . This is why I keep going to the gym as each 1 September approaches . I want to pay tribute to my old childhood friends . It is hard for me to go inside the gym but I must do it . I do not feel myself a victim , this story is the part of my past now . I will not forget it but I do not feel sorry for myself . My life goes on . I finished school this year entered a medical university in Vladikavkaz . I will learn to be a heart surgeon . My first choice was to go in the army . I wanted to be a military man , but my health did not let me . I wanted to fight for my country but it will not happen . Georgy Farniyev , 20 The boy who survived despite having been trapped at the feet of a murderous terrorist Miraculous : Georgy Farniyev was trapped at the foot of a murderous terrorist during the siege but still managed to survive As the siege was underway , he was pictured trapped inside the gym , sitting next to a bomb at the foot of a murderous terrorist . It is truly a miracle he was not killed . 'We feel as if it was just yesterday , ' said Georgy , who wanted to train as an intelligence officer in the FSB , but was unable to because of damage to his health in the siege . It is still with me , this is not something I left behind . I am older now and people use to say children easily cope with bad experience - I must say this is not true . 'In 2006 I worked with psychologists and I did feel a bit better afterwards but I can 't forget it . And I would like to forget . 2005 - the year after - was the first and the last time when I went inside the gym again . I lost consciousness . I would never ever go there again and please don 't ask me to show where I sat in that well ##AT##-##AT## known picture . Survivor : Georgy Farniev pictured today , with a photograph of him in hospital follwoing the siege on his laptop My pain is enormous and I carry it with me every day . My friends know that I do not like to think or discuss it and they never asked me about the school . In terms of physical condition I am well . I should be careful with my knee which was injured but I walk fine now . Still my health did not let me go and study in FSB secret service academy in St Petersburg as I wanted . I sent my documents , including medical papers , and they replied it was not possible . My second passion was animals , so I went to the veterinary institute . I have completed two years there . He is learning to treat all animals ' from cats to cows ' . He said : ' I know I would never tell my children about my experience . This is not something children should know about , and of course not something they should experience . His mother Marina , 42 , said : ' This pain never leaves me . It is in my soul , worse when the anniversary gets close . I will go and attend ceremonies being held to mark it . I know Georgy won 't go . It must be even stronger for him because he was there and I was not . I was waiting for him at home , not able to help . I am so grateful to God that he was returned to me.Here in Beslan the imprint is on everyone . It stays with us . Georgy is an adult now but that horror is still with him . It is hard to accept it when something so terribly unfair happens to you . He is a boy , he likes sports but he can 't take part because of his knee . He had several surgeries , he walks but cannot exercise . I would say he 50 % overcame this horror , but one can never completely overcome and forget it . This horrible experience will stay with us . Many friends and neighbours were killed in the siege , and it only adds to my pain . I lost many people I knew well and they were dear for me . My son is with me and this is the greatest gift God could do for me but my heart aches about those killed . I know families where new children were born , but also widows who never married again . It is hard to accept that life goes on , even if you do not want it . I will never forget my heart jumping out of my chest at the moment I saw him in hospital . Now I look at what is going on in the world - wars in different regions . What are those people fighting for ? Why are they killing each other ? The war is very close to our country now and I can hardly believe it . We used to be one friendly country in the past , how did it happen that we are fighting now ? People and children are suffering , I am sure many children were already killed in Ukraine and many will be killed . If we could only grab all the rebels and throw them away - as far away as possible . Alyona Tskaeva , 10 The baby who was carried poignantly to safety by a special forces commando Saved : Alyona Tskaeva is carried to safety by a Russian special forces commando ( left ) . She is now ten ( right ) and has no memory at all of the atrocity The world gasped in 2004 when baby Alyona was carried out of the Beslan siege cradled in the arms of a Russian policeman . Terrorists let her go but cruelly kept her 30 year old mother , ten year old older sister Kristina , and brother Makhar in the school gym . Makhar , then three , escaped , but Alyona 's mother and sister died in the murderous carnage . Her father Ruslan has since remarried and with his new wife Svetlana he has a baby girl , who he named Kristina after the daughter he lost . Alyona , now ten , has no memory of the siege and has blossomed into a bright and happy girl , say neighbours . 'They are a big happy family now and Alyona and Makhar are both great kids , ' said a close friend . Ruslan is a fantastic dad and wants to get them away from all the memories as the tenth anniversary is marked . You can understand why . Man accused of knocking down girl on Fife pelican crossing A 78 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old man is to stand trial accused of running over a three ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old girl on a pelican crossing in Fife . Gordon Stewart is alleged to have knocked down the girl on a crossing in Pittenween in East Neuk . Prosecutors said Mr Stewart drove his Audi Q3 without due care and attention and knocked the girl down to her injury . Stewart , 78 , from Anstruther , denied the charge at Dundee Sheriff Court . Sheriff Charles Macnair QC set a trial date in January . 4 tips for better underwater photos and video If you 're interested in shooting photos or video underwater , you have a variety of equipment choices . The cheapest option is a waterproof point ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## shoot , such as the Nikon Coolpix AW120 or an action cam , such as the GoPro Hero3 + Silver Edition , which both go for around $ 300 . I shot these photos at a family party using several cameras , all priced under $ 350 . No matter what gear you use , a few rules apply for getting the best results . Double ##AT##-##AT## check your gear . Even if you have a waterproof camera , make sure that the camera 's battery and other compartments are tightly closed . Also , set your camera to match the type of photos or video you 'll be shooting . Some cameras and camcorders have scene or shooting modes that will optimize the exposure for dim undersea settings . And before you jump in , know how deep your equipment can go . Some cameras are rated to only 5 feet , others to 50 or 60 feet . Check out our buying guide and Ratings for digital cameras for both conventional and waterproof models . Take multiple shots - because many of them won 't work . Point ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## shoot cameras have LCDs to help you compose photos , while action cams generally don 't . Even if you have an LCD , it 's going to hard to see it underwater , and composing your shot will be a hit ##AT##-##AT## or ##AT##-##AT## miss process . So shoot multiples . Also , if your camera has a bracket mode , which shoots a burst of shots at slightly different exposure settings , take advantage of it . Stay near the surface . Light falls off dramatically the deeper you dive underwater . If possible , stay close to the surface when you shoot in a pool , a lake or the ocean . This will also allow you to capture more color in your photos ; the deeper you go , the less color you 'll see . Get close to your subjects . This is great advice for shooting on dry land , but it is even more important underwater because of the dim lighting conditions . It 's particularly important if you 're shooting with an action cam : These devices often have a fixed , wide angle lens , which means you have to get closer to your subjects if you want them to fill the picture frame . Andrew Lawson was the kind of man whose force of personality could shake things up , even in a gargantuan organisation like the NHS . A consultant anaesthetist , he devoted his career to sparing the sick both the agonies of illness and the torments of treatment . Among those who sought him out , his wife remembers , was an MI6 officer who had to live with the crippling after ##AT##-##AT## effects of torture . Lawson understood that while doctors are captivated by diagnoses and diseases , those being treated are overwhelmingly concerned with something else entirely : pain . One day in 2007 , however , he was the one who began to suffer . " I have not felt myself , " he wrote in May that year . I 've had difficulty in energising myself . Struggling with flu ##AT##-##AT## like symptoms , he found himself impatiently berating his wife , Juliet . " I want everything to happen sooner rather than later , " he noted . When Juliet went away on business for a week , Lawson found himself unusually , and unaccountably , upset . Something was up . He got a colleague to perform a chest X ##AT##-##AT## ray . Just two weeks earlier he had been skiing in the French Alps . The results of the X ##AT##-##AT## ray came back . He had mesothelioma , an incurable cancer that affects the pleura , or lining of the lung . With most cancers , it is hard to know the exact cause . Though some smokers get lung cancer , for example , not all lung cancer sufferers have smoked . But mesothelioma is different . In almost every case , the cause is exposure to asbestos - a fibrous building material once dubbed " miraculous , " but now known to be mortally dangerous . For most of us , mesothelioma has been an easy disease to ignore . Asbestos , after all , is a product of the past . The most dangerous type of asbestos has not been used in Britain since the 1960s , when a voluntary industry ban came into effect . Even when it was used , only people in specific industries worked closely with it - pipe laggers , builders , carpenters and shipyard workers , for example . An industrial toxin from another era , it hardly seems cause for concern today . But such complacency is misplaced . Britain , it turns out , is today at the peak of a mesothelioma epidemic . There are more mesothelioma deaths here than in any other country on the planet . With an annual toll of about 2,500 , more than twice as many people die of the disease as die in accidents in motor vehicles . Mesothelioma annual deaths since 1980 and projected future deaths in Great Britain The reason that we are feeling its deadly effects now is that , though asbestos use has been illegal for years ( all types of asbestos were eventually banned by law in 1999 ) , it usually takes decades for mesothelioma to develop . And the mesothelioma scourge is not confined to veterans of industrial building jobs . Asbestos has been , and in many cases still is , embedded in the homes we live in , the offices we work in , the schools we are educated in , and the stores we shop in . As a result , mesothelioma is no respecter of class , wealth , occupation , or age . The bastions of privilege , from smart London department stores to public schools , have proved no refuge . The Houses of Parliament are riddled with asbestos . Even the hospitals that are meant to make us better have been reservoirs of this deadly carcinogen . Andrew Lawson was not old . Nor was he a pipe lagger . In fact , he struggled to think where he might have come into contact with asbestos . Then he put his finger on it . " It seems that there may have been a lot of asbestos in the tunnels at Guy 's Hospital where I spent six years training , " he wrote . Everybody - students , nurses , doctors and porters - used the tunnels . One wonders how many of my contemporaries will get the same disease ? It was a question to which , sadly , he was able to provide a partial answer . " Of four doctors who trained at Guy 's Hospital and who subsequently developed mesothelioma in the past five years , " he noted in a letter in 2010 , " I am the only one left alive . " How many of us will get this disease ? Andrew Lawson was diagnosed with mesothelioma when he was 48 . When he died , on February 17 this year , he was 55 . To survive so long is unusual . Fifty per cent of mesothelioma sufferers are dead 8 months after diagnosis . It is always fatal . So now we can only echo Lawson 's question : " How many of us will get the same disease ? " According to Britain 's leading expert on mesothelioma , Professor Julian Peto , our best guess is that between 1970 and 2050 , when the asbestos epidemic in Britain should have played itself out , some 90,000 people will have died . Most currently have no idea that they will die this way . An asbestos mine in Quebec , Canada Alamy A quick glance at the reports from the courts , where those affected often turn for compensation , shows how far the scourge of mesothelioma has spread . This June , for example , Marks & Spencer admitted negligently exposing Janice Allen to asbestos . She worked for the chain for nine years , from 1978 to 1987 , supervising clothes sections at two sites - one of which was the flagship store on Oxford Street . Mrs Allen was only 18 when she started working at M & S. Now she has two children in their 20s . " Before this happened , " she says , " I had never heard of mesothelioma , I barely knew about asbestos . I never would have dreamed that I would be affected by it . Few people do know much about asbestos . In fact , asbestos describes not one substance but a group of six minerals . They get their name from the word " asbestiform " - which describes the fibrous structure which endows them with strength and flexibility . Of the six , three have commonly been used in the building trade . Chrysotile , commonly known as White Asbestos , is by far the most frequently found in buildings today . It was used in roofing panels , floor tiles , pipe insulation , boiler seals , even brake linings in cars . It is less lethal than other forms of asbestos , but it 's still considered a " major health hazard " that can kill by the EU and WHO . More dangerous , however , are Brown Asbestos ( amosite ) and Blue Asbestos ( crocidolite ) . Britain was once the world 's largest importer of Brown Asbestos , and experts suggest that " there is strong but indirect evidence that this was a major cause of the uniquely high mesothelioma rate [ in the UK ] . " A Marks & Spencer employee was exposed to asbestos at its flagship store in Oxford Street , London Alamy Janice Allen may not have thought of herself as a typical victim of mesothelioma , but Julian Peto 's work suggests that her story is far from uncommon . He has produced a study of sufferers which suggests that " a substantial proportion of mesotheliomas with no known occupational or domestic exposure were probably caused by environmental asbestos exposure . " Much of that exposure , he says , is due to " normal occupation and weathering " of our buildings . No one , it seems , can be sure that they are safe . A report from Goddard Consulting , which looked at the Palace of Westminster , shows how people , even in the heart of government , might have been exposed unawares . In 2009 Goddard reported that service shafts and piping ducts behind Parliamentary committee rooms were contaminated with asbestos , whose lethal fibres could be disturbed by something as innocuous as " strong currents of air . " MPs are frequently accused of looking after their own interests , but in this case it seems the opposite may have been true . While the Parliamentary Works Services Directorate insisted that the Palace of Westminster had been given " a clean bill of health , " it is now accepted £ 1bn of work lasting several years is required to overhaul Parliament , upgrading electrics and removing asbestos , and that after the 2015 general election MPs may sit in the nearby QE2 Conference Centre rather than on the Green Benches at Westminster . The Goddard report noted that " the presence of asbestos has not been managed in accordance with the various regulations . " It is impossible to know if this mismanagement will cost lives . All anyone can do now is wait . One person who has never been able to pinpoint his exposure to asbestos is Graham Abbott , a GP . Like Andrew Lawson , Abbott , 50 , suspects that he was exposed to asbestos while working in hospitals . " I have worked at a hospital where positive asbestos claims have been made , " he says , " But I can 't prove it in my case . It 's so hard to remember all the places one has worked in , and the dates . What he remembers clearly is the day early in December in 2009 when he was overcome with what felt like a fever . He was 45 , and in the middle of a late evening surgery . Suddenly I started feeling shivery . It came on very quickly . I felt dreadful . I didn 't think I was going to be able to drive all the way home . Being a doctor , Abbott knew that the pain was coming from the pleura , the lining around his lungs . But like Janice Allen , he simply had no reason to suspect mesothelioma . He ended up spending a month off work . Puzzled doctors gave him chest X ##AT##-##AT## rays , and administered pleural catheters to draw off fluid from the lungs and send it for assessment . Yet the condition went undiagnosed . Slowly his health improved and he went back to work . But from time to time the same symptoms returned , often after he took exercise and was breathing hard . In 2011 , one of Abbott 's patients arrived at his GP 's surgery with similar symptoms to him , and was subsequently diagnosed with mesothelioma . But even then Abbott didn 't make the connection with his own case . After all , his patient was decades older , and had worked directly asbestos . The link in that case was clear . In September 2011 , Abbott 's condition worsened again , and his consultant took his CT scans and X ##AT##-##AT## rays to a panel of experts . In December 2011 , exactly two years after Abbott started feeling unwell , a probe , equipped with a camera , was fed into the cavity between the lining of his chest and the lining of his lung . I 'm an optimist . I tend just to plod along , " he says . I hadn 't worried about it too much to be honest . But Rachel , my wife , was worrying . The result of the biopsy came in the week between Christmas and New Year : " I was told it was mesothelioma . " Graham Abbott : diagnosed with mesothelioma Suddenly Abbott was plunged into meetings with Macmillan nurses , one of whom suggested that he should get in touch with a lawyer . That was when he realised the scale of the epidemic . " It turns out that asbestos was widely used , particularly in big public buildings which quite often had asbestos lagging on the pipes , " he says . People who were exposed to asbestos in those buildings are now coming down with the disease . So mesothelioma is now affecting younger people not in the typical professions . The most dangerous asbestos ##AT##-##AT## lagged pipes in hospitals were below ground level , so patients are unlikely to have been affected . But many staff , walking in pedestrian tunnels to get from one building to another ( like Andrew Lawson ) , or eating in basement canteens ( as Graham Abbott frequently did ) almost certainly did come into contact with the toxic substance . For several decades after the war , it turns out , hospitals were potentially life ##AT##-##AT## saving places for patients , but life ##AT##-##AT## threatening places for the doctors who treated them . It is still being removed today . Pupils perched their Bunsen burners on asbestos mats And it is not just hospitals . Asbestos was frequently used in offices , shops , libraries and town halls for its marvellous insulating and flame ##AT##-##AT## retarding properties . Schools too . In fact many people will have been first exposed to asbestos in the classroom . Up and down the country , in myriad chemistry lessons , pupils have perched their Bunsen burners on asbestos mats . Websites have sprung up to address the issue of asbestos in schools . Meanwhile , in our homes , items as innocuous as floor tiles or shed roofs have routinely contained asbestos . " It 's an industrial poison built into large amounts of our housing stock , " notes Andrew Morgan , the lawyer who represented Andrew Lawson in his case against Guy 's Hospital . In one case the only contact the woman sufferer could think of was pulling down a garden shed in the 1970s . So be careful how you pull down the garden shed . The impact of diagnosis , knowing that the disease is incurable , is huge . " It takes a while to sink in , " says Graham Abbott . I went back to work and tried to carry on but realised that I couldn 't concentrate on what I was doing . I was at the surgery for two weeks . Then I realised that I would have to leave and sort myself out . Well , I won 't see Christmas again One of the hardest things was moving from the position of doctor to that of patient . Like countless patients before him , he remembers feeling bewildered by the amount of information to get to grips with . " It was hard to take everything in , " he says . " I asked my consultant " How long do I have ? " I was quoted about 12 months . I remember thinking " Well , I won 't see Christmas again . That 's it . " " Mesothelioma is particularly pernicious , because it is the mechanics of how we stay alive - the very act of breathing - that causes the cancer that kills . Most Mesothelioma cases are caused by exposure to asbestos . Asbestos is made up of tiny fibres . When the asbestos is disturbed and the fibres are inhaled , they can become embedded in the pleura , the lining of the lungs . Asbestos fibres irritate the pleura and can cause cell mutations . " The problem comes from inhaled needle ##AT##-##AT## shaped fibres of asbestos , " Professor Tom Treasure , a cardio ##AT##-##AT## thoracic surgeon who moved in 2001 to Guy 's Hospital . The very hospital where Andrew Lawson suspected he was exposed to asbestos is now , ironically , a leading centre in treating mesothelioma . Treasure knew Lawson , and treated some others who are likely to have been exposed while training at the hospital . Once the asbestos needles get into the lung tissue , says Treasure , " the act of breathing pushes them on the periphery , which is where the lining is . It is by its nature invasive from the very beginning . The normal options for treating other forms of cancer work less well with mesothelioma . The effectiveness of surgery , for example , is hotly debated . Some feel it is worth trying . Treasure disagrees . " You can 't excise the pleura , " he says . You can 't get your knife round it . Meanwhile the cancer " is not very responsive to chemotherapy , " which " has an effect " but does not cure . " Every now and again you get long survivors , " says Treasure . But in the end they all die . Happily , some patients do live far , far beyond expectations . The author Stephen Jay Gould died 20 years after diagnosis . Two ##AT##-##AT## and ##AT##-##AT## a ##AT##-##AT## half years after his own diagnosis , Graham Abbott is still battling on . After contacting mesothelioma Abbott was put in touch with Andrew Lawson , who , four years after his diagnosis , had become a one ##AT##-##AT## man support and advice bureau for fellow sufferers . " Hello , Cancer Central , " he would announce cheerily when they called . " He was very positive , " says Abbott . He had been diagnosed 4 years before and was still very active . Initially , Abbott had been offered six cycles of chemotherapy that would take four months , and likely prolong his life by just one month . " I felt desperate , " he says . I felt like giving up . Lawson , however , " managed to put a slightly better tint on things . " After seeing several consultants , Abbott decided to pursue his treatment with Prof Loic Lang ##AT##-##AT## Lazdunski , professor in thoracic surgery at Guy 's . " We had an advantage in that I didn 't have to be referred , I just rang them up and they saw me , " Graham admits . The average patient would have to get a referral and have funding approved . Money is crucial for those with mesothelioma to pursue the best available treatments . But when those treatments eventually , inevitably , fail , many sufferers are faced with another financial worry - about the future of the families they will leave behind . And so they turn to the courts in pursuit of compensation . Andrew Lawson contacted Andrew Morgan , from Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP . " It has been known that asbestos is noxious to health since 1898 , " says Morgan . But what changed in the 1960s is that it was realised that even very low levels could be a risk to health . That is where company negligence came in . Andrew Lawson and Guy 's hospital eventually settled their case , but it was not what Morgan calls a " full ##AT##-##AT## value settlement " since Lawson could not prove definitively that his mesothelioma was down to asbestos exposure at Guy 's . After the inquest into his death , a spokesman for Guy 's did confirm , however , that " the asbestos in the basement area concerned was removed in the 1990s . " That was too late for Andrew Lawson . How to remove asbestos In fact , pinning lethal asbestos exposure on one company or place of work - usually decades after the fact - has proved a huge problem for mesothelioma sufferers seeking compensation . Many of their former employers have changed hands or gone out of business . Insurance records may have been lost . And those defending themselves from claims know they have time on their side , which the claimants certainly do not . In response , this year has seen major new legislation which makes it easier for those with mesothelioma to claim compensation even if their former employers can no longer be traced . The law has created a £ 350m pot of money , funded by the insurance industry , for those diagnosed after July 2012 who can prove exposure but have no one to sue . In these cases sufferers will be awarded 80 per cent of what a court might have awarded in a normal compensation case - about £ 120,000 . About 300 successful claims to the scheme are expected each year . Andrew Morgan , like many involved with mesothelioma sufferers , thinks that £ 350m represents " a very good job " for the insurance industry . " It 's a deal written by insurers for insurers " he says , suggesting that the sum is a quarter of what insurers would have had to pay if the passage of time had not intervened , and mesothelioma sufferers were able to track down companies and sue them in the normal way . Even Mike Penning , then Works and Pensions minister , admitted that the law was " not perfect . " But both Penning and Morgan admit that , with seven victims dying each day , quick action was needed . " People are suffering so much , and need help today , " said Penning during the Mesothelioma Bill 's second reading in December last year . By then , Graham Abbott had been in the hands of Prof Loic Lang ##AT##-##AT## Lazdunski for 19 months . After their initial consultations , Lang ##AT##-##AT## Lazdunski advised surgery which , in contrast to Tom Treasure , he believes has a positive effect . This was followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy - a tri ##AT##-##AT## therapy for which Lang ##AT##-##AT## Lazdunski can boast five year survival rates as high as 40 per cent . Abbott felt empowered . " That of course is one of the most important things , " says Abbott . You see it in patients all the time . There is some drive that keeps you going . When you give up you can deteriorate very quickly . Graham Abbott went in for surgery in March 2012 . By the end of August he had completed the last of his six cycles of chemotherapy . Follow ##AT##-##AT## up scans revealed no sign of the disease . Then I had my scan in March [ 2014 ] . There was multiple spotting [ of cancer ] around my chest . I was just about to turn 50 . It 's not life threatening . It 's life ending . Once again Abbott put himself through six cycles of chemotherapy . Now there is no sign of the tumours . But the process is both physically and emotionally gruelling . You have to think about practical things - about the finances when I 'm gone for example , or showing my wife how the boiler timer works . When you get bad news you start getting negative . You have to look forward . As the father of Ellie , 16 , and Tamsin , 14 , that is not always easy . " It 's hard as a parent , " he says . It is difficult to know what to say and how much to say . When I was first diagnosed I told the girls that I had a condition that meant I wasn 't going to become old . They reacted very differently . Tamsin is very sociable and boisterous . She told her friends and we got lots of calls very quickly . Ellie was more reserved . She didn 't say much . Such conversations are something that all cancer patients must face . But for mesothelioma sufferers such discussions are not leavened by hope , by even a glimmer of a possibility of survival . The disease carries with it ( even as it did , eventually , for Stephen Jay Gould ) a grim certainty . As Andrew Morgan says , " mesothelioma is not life threatening . Bodies of embalmed Pharaohs wrapped in asbestos cloths . Asbestos fibres used to strengthen cooking pots and provide greater heat resistance . Pliny the Elder describes asbestos . A linen has now been invented that is incombustible . I have seen napkins made of it glowing on the hearths at banquets Modern commercial asbestos use begins in Italy , where it is used to make paper ( even bank notes ) and cloth . Major asbestos mines open in Canada and South Africa , and soon after in America , Itlay and Russia . It is an ideal insulator for the steam engines and and turbines of the Industrial Revolution . Global asbestos production rises to more than 30,000 tons annually . Statisticians with Prudential identify premature mortality among those working with asbestos , who are subsequently refused life insurance . Nellie Kershaw dies in Rochdale . Dr William Cooke testifies that asbestos particles in the lungs " were beyond reasonable doubt the primary cause of death . " It is the first case of its kind . Kershaw 's employers , Turner Bros Asbestos , do not admit liability . No compensation is paid . World War Two sees intensive shipbuilding , one of the deadliest occupations for asbestos exposure . Voluntary industry ban on the import of Blue asbestos Court of Appeal confirms the first successful personal injury claim in Britain as a result of asbestos exposure . Global asbestos production rises to more than 4,213,000 tons annually . UK imports 139,000 tons . Health and Safety Executive in Britain requires all contractors working with asbestos to be licensed . Import and use of Blue and Brown asbestos banned by law in Britain . All asbestos use banned in Britain . Mesothelioma Act passed in the UK . A £ 350m compensation scheme is announced . Asbestos is banned in more than 50 countries , but white asbestos is still used as a cheap building material in many parts of the world . Global production hovers around 2m tons annually . China refuses to give Hong Kong right to choose leaders ; protesters vow vengeance China 's parliament decided Sunday against letting Hong Kong voters nominate candidates for the 2017 election , despite growing agitation for democratic reform . The move is likely to spark long ##AT##-##AT## promised protests in Hong Kong 's business district , as activists began planning and mobilizing within hours of the announcement . The decision by China 's National People 's Congress essentially allows Communist leaders to weed out any candidates not loyal to Beijing . " It 's not unexpected , but it is still infuriating , " said legislator Emily Lau , chairwoman of the Democratic Party . This is not what Beijing promised . They 've lied to the people of Hong Kong . And it 's clear we are dealing with an authoritarian regime . Defending China 's ruling , Li Fei , deputy secretary general of the Standing Committee of the National People 's Congress , said allowing public nominations in the election for Hong Kong 's leader would be too " chaotic . " Since 1997 , when Britain handed control of Hong Kong back to China , Beijing had promised to allow the region 's residents to vote for the chief executive beginning in 2017 . Chinese leaders presented the Sunday ruling as a democratic breakthrough because it gives Hong Kongers a direct vote , but the decision also makes clear that Chinese leaders would retain a firm hold on the process through a nominating committee tightly controlled by Beijing . And , according to a new clause , only candidates who " love the country , and love Hong Kong " would be allowed . The ruling comes after a summer that has featured some of the largest and most high ##AT##-##AT## profile protests in Hong Kong in years . Behind much of the pro ##AT##-##AT## democracy campaign in Hong Kong is the Occupy Central With Love and Peace movement , whose organizers have threatened to shut down the financial district if Beijing does not grant authentic universal suffrage . On Sunday night , within hours of the announcement , hundreds of Occupy Central supporters had assembled in the rain outside the Hong Kong government 's headquarters . At the demonstration , organizers said that their movement was entering a new stage of civil disobedience and that they would mount waves of protests in the coming weeks . However , they did not give details , apparently looking to avoid problems with authorities . In an online statement , organizers said the movement " has considered occupying Central only as the last resort , an action to be taken only if all chances of dialogue have been exhausted and there is no other choice . We are very sorry to say that today all chances of dialogue have been exhausted and the occupation of Central will definitely happen . Authorities in Hong Kong have been preparing for Beijing 's announcement for days , and security was tight Sunday at the government headquarters , with police and barricades deployed . Driving the unrest is a sense among many in Hong Kong that they are slowly losing control over their city . An influx of mainlanders is fueling competition for products and services . There is also growing fear that Hong Kong 's values , such as democracy and freedom of speech , are beginning to bend under increasing pressure from Beijing . Some have criticized the Occupy Central movement , saying its demonstrations put business - the lifeblood of Hong Kong - at risk . " The protest they are talking about , it could result in much economic damage , depending on how many are involved and for how long , " said legislator Regina Ip , who has long criticized the movement . We don 't want concern to spread that Hong Kong is getting out of control . This is a perception that is bad for investment . China 's state ##AT##-##AT## run media also has run stories in recent days painting Hong Kong 's democracy activists as agents of subversion directed by Western powers . This summer , activists organized an unofficial referendum on voting rights that drew 780,000 participants - more than a fifth of Hong Kong voters . And in July , tens of thousands turned out for one of the largest pro ##AT##-##AT## democracy demonstrations in the region 's history . US prom culture hits university life with freshers offered private jet entrances We 're excited to be answering this demand by launching the UK 's first luxurious travel service for the students of today . To make the maximum impact arriving at university , the company also offers transport options including private jet , Rolls ##AT##-##AT## Royce Phantom , Aston Martin or McLaren P1 . Mr Stewart also claimed the service had a safety aspect . The service is an ideal alternative for students who would usually have to haul their belongings across the country in a dangerously overloaded car . Paired with our new VIF options , we 're looking forward to ensuring this year students reach university with minimum fuss and maximum luxury . A spokesman for the company said that because the service has just launched there have been no bookings yet but added that " students will be booking the service over the next few weeks . " The company also said that despite students facing tuition fees of £ 9,000 a year , it still expected to find a market for the service . Students of today are quite different in terms of expectations and aspirations , compared to students 10 , 20 , 30 or 40 years ago - it 's more important than ever to make a great first impression and VIF is just the way to do that . However , the National Union of Students criticised the service as out of touch . Megan Dunn , NUS vice president for higher education , said : " This scheme seems incredibly out of touch with the lives of the majority of students . Many students starting university this month are facing a cost of living crisis , with available financial support in loans and grants failing to keep pace with spiralling bills for basic essentials , before they can even start thinking about forking out thousands of pounds for something as simple arriving at their halls of residence . Feminists take on race and police conduct post ##AT##-##AT## Ferguson The unarmed teenager was killed by a police officer in Ferguson , Mo . , earlier this month . Attendees hold their hands up while chanting , " Hands up , don 't shoot , " as they wait in line before the funeral . After two weeks of protests in Ferguson , Mo. over the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown , blogger Miriam Zoila Perez noticed a shift in the online conversation among white feminists . In her experience , white feminist commenters prioritized gender above race when it came to pushing forward reproductive rights and income inequality . But as tensions rose in the Midwest and drew nationwide coverage , Perez saw responses from white women that centered 100 percent around race . Compared to the responses of black women soon after the shooting on August 9 , the personal essays with titles like " thoughts on ferguson as a white woman " and " Feminism Is Not Just About Women 's Oppression " came relatively late . But to Perez , it demonstrated a significant shift . " In feminism , I don 't think you get a lot of people talking about whiteness and privilege in such a high level way , " she said . People felt called to voice something about what happened . It 's very emblematic of the crisis we face and because [ the situation in Ferguson ] is so racialized , they have to call that out . For Ohio State University English professor Koritha Mitchell , Ferguson brought to light issues that black American women face every day but that aren 't seen as " women 's issues " in the cultural sphere . " I can post something funny on Facebook about what 's going on with me and my partner and it will get 150 likes from all over the place , " said Mitchell . When I post something about how people of color are under siege in their own country , the silence is deafening . " How is it safe for women to speak publicly about relationships but not about safety in the public sphere ? " she asked . For black women like Mitchell who have studied race , gender and sexuality in U.S. history , there is no dichotomy between issues regarding race and gender . To her , black women have not had the luxury of neatly separating the issues ; they live the combined reality every day . While white women are now combining issues of race and gender in mainstream feminist spheres , Angela Hattery , women and gender studies professor at George Mason University , says their predecessors did the opposite . " Between 1865 and 1890 , at least 10,000 black men were lynched and the justification was almost always the rape of a white woman , " said Hattery . You needed the white woman to be complicit in the narrative to justify the lynching . To Hattery , the breakdown between white and black women came when white suffragists like Susan B. Anthony surveyed the landscape in the late 1800s and saw that the fight for voting rights would only work for one group at a time : women or blacks . " They made the decision to put their eggs in the basket for votes for women and votes for Blacks would come later , " said Hattery . To look back at things like that gives us a powerful perspective on why women of color don 't trust white women . We haven 't done a good job . We haven 't helped black women protect their husbands and sons ever . Even after women won the right to vote in 1920 , it took a decade for white women to organize against lynching as the Association of Southern Woman for the Prevention of Lynching . The group came nearly 40 years after black women originally asked for assistance , said Mitchell . To Mitchell , the upswell of white feminist responses to the issues raised by Ferguson - police conduct , racial discrimination - reflect the times white feminists have had to play " catch up " to issues black women have grappled with for generations . " Wouldn 't it be great if the activists who have those [ traditional feminist ] platforms took as seriously the right to raise a child as they did their right to have birth control ? " posed Mitchell . Second wave feminists who made careers out of fighting for reproductive rights and access to birth control are now figuring out what that means . Noted white feminist activist Gloria Steinem took to Facebook two weeks after Michael Brown 's shooting to post a pointed column by Guardian columnist Rebecca Carroll that demanded more protest from white Americans on the issue of racism . " I hope women , who have a different but parallel reason for understanding a danger that is located in the body - and racial opinions that are measurably different in public polls - will lead the change , " Steinem wrote . Although Steinem has vouched for a more intersectional feminism that includes issues of race as well as gender , her comments on race in America still puzzle some . American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Sommers , author of " Who Stole Feminism ? , " told She The People that young men in the United States , especially young men of color , are " far more vulnerable than their sisters , " but Steinem 's remarks on Ferguson counter the criticism she has launched in the past . We now have hundreds of special programs for girls and young women , but almost nothing for boys . But when the White House recently initiated a small program , My Brother 's Keeper , to help vulnerable black and Hispanic young men , there was an angry reaction from many feminists , including Gloria Steinem . Police relations with the black community is not the only issue pushing to the forefront of mainstream feminism . After U.S. border patrol apprehended nearly 63,000 unaccompanied minors at the country 's southwest border this year , immigration reform surfaced once again - this time as a women 's issue . Andrea Mercado , co ##AT##-##AT## chair of We Belong Together , an organization mobilizing women for immigration reform , said that in order to rebrand the issue as essential for women , all she needed to do was share immigrant women 's stories . " They speak for themselves , " Mercado said . When the vast majority of employment visas are given to [ male immigrants ] , the women who come with them are left in a position vulnerable to domestic violence and exploitation . " These stories resonate with women 's organizations , " she said . Ipswich ' pig in residence ' house for sale A picture for a house for sale in Suffolk was removed by estate agents when it emerged it showed a large pig at rest in the living room . On sale for £ 120,000 , the detached one ##AT##-##AT## bedroom property sits on a private road in Ipswich . The particulars featured a picture of the living room of the house - which included a pig with its head resting on a settee . Estate agents Connells said the pig in the photo was the home owner 's pet . " However , the photo was put up in error and has since been removed , " a spokeswoman for the company said . In the particulars for the property , Connells described the former meeting house as a " unique one bedroom detached house . " Although the agency has removed the image from its website , it still appears in publicity material . The house sale has sparked interest on social media , where some have enquired whether the pig is included in the sale . SW town of Harvey has fresh millionaire after Lotto win A Harvey lotto player is in the month . The search is on for a new millionaire in Perth 's south ##AT##-##AT## west , with one lucky person taking home nearly $ 1.1 million from Saturday night 's lotto draw . A Harvey newsagency struck gold in the division one draw for the second time in five years , the last being $ 1 million in November 2009 . However the lucky winner has yet to come forward . Owner of the store Steve Forward said the win was creating a buzz around the small town in Perth 's south west . It 's the talk of the town and everyone is pretty excited . We thought a win like this might be close . Eight WA winners have celebrated division one wins last month , capping off a lucky few weeks for the state 's players . Last week a Canning Vale player became one of five August millionaire 's , following a Belmont couple 's massive $ 7.5 million win only a few weeks prior . The winning couple had played the game for twenty years and said the win gifted them the opportunity to travel the world and buy a new house . The Harvey millionaire brings WA up to 59 division one winners for the year , totalling in nearly $ 85 million . Leonidas begged in the gladiatorial arena It was not only the gladiators that stood ankle deep in the mud at the park during Rheinbach 's first Roman day . The appeal of the event was so great that it attracted more than 1000 visitors yesterday , who braved the rain and autumn chill , and who were completely taken in by the historical show . There was a colorful start with representations , performances , games , exhibition pieces and information on Roman times and their significance to the Rhineland . The main attraction of the day was undoubtedly the martial arts group from the gladiator school " Amor Mortis " , which , every time it stopped raining , seized the opportunity to demonstrate their robust martial arts in the soft sand covered arena . The owner of gladiators " Leonidas " proved himself to be a humorous and expert presenter , who sent men , one after one , into the ring for a heroic duel in a variety of gladiatorial genres . At first the " provocateurs " were lined up with a rectangular shield and short sword , as well a cuisse on the left leg , and a vembrace on the right arm . Then there were the " Essedarii " wearing a breast ##AT##-##AT## plate , and carrying a short sword and a spear , as well as an iron gladiator helmet , a cuisse and an arm guard . What was particular impressive was the performance of the " Retiarius " , who went up against the " Secutor " with a cast ##AT##-##AT## net , trident and dagger , and who , after a short fight , knocked the guys to the ground . The swords clashed against one another , the shields clanked and the spears flew , zooming through the arena , so much so that you feared for the safety of the gladiators . However , the gigantic " Summa Rudis " , a muscular referee , constantly kept a keen eye on them . " We wanted to revive the Roman everyday life , and enable the culture of Roman times to be experienced " , Lorenz Euskirchen , the chairman of the events organization " Freundeskreis Römerkanal " explained as the intention behind the spectacle . Claus Wehage , the deputy mayor , announced in his welcome speech that after two years of preparation , the park was transformed for one day into an " Oppidum Romanum " , a Roman city . In the end , the Romans not only brought war and conquest to our region , but also the Roman culture and numerous buildings , which we can still admire today . Some of these remains could also be marveled at during the Roman day , such as " Aduädukt ##AT##-##AT## Marmor " from the eleven ##AT##-##AT## meter high , and 1400 meter long , Roman canal bridge , which is the only one in Lüftelberg . The Frontinus organization compared , both then and now , the water and energy supply , and the managing director , Petra Fricke , said : " We still derive benefit today from the knowledge of back then " . This was confirmed by the surveyor Ralph Heiliger from " IngenieurteamZwei " in Rheinback , who introduced the instruments used by the Romans for surveying , such as the Chorobat , Groma and Dioptra . The Römervilla in Blankenheim presented sketches and models of the excavations of 1894 , as well as bricks made from the original hypocaust , forced ##AT##-##AT## air heating , which was once used to warm up Römervilla . The footprints of a wolf and fox from two thousand years ago were also impressive , and were left behind after they trod in clay before it was burnt . In 2011 the office of archaeological monument conservation at the state association in Rheinland excavated the remains of a Roman Villa in an industrial estate in north Rheinbach . The enclosing walls of an agricultural building were discovered and contained a kiln for drying crops and malting . The building probably belonged to a Villa Rustica , an agricultural manor , archaeologist Dr. Jennifer Morscheiser explained . A range of finds from the excavation were presented in a glass cabinet , among which were a large plate , several fine glass jars and parts of a small necklace . Morscheiser presumed that the Villa was there from between the first and fourth century Anno Domini until the invasion of the Germanic people in the former Roman Rheinland . The children also kept themselves busy playing the Roman windmills game , similar to today 's mill game , or they wrote , as did the Roman pupils at the time , their names with metal pens on wax tablets . At the Roman thermal bath stand from Zülpich , the children were allowed to lay mosaics themselves ; at the Rheinbach glass museum stand they made glass mosaics ; and at the Eifel Nettersheim nature center stand , they got to use a heavy wheat mill made of stone so they could grind the flour needed for a pita bread or muesli . The visitors rode through the park in a Roman carriage , which had been reconstructed to be true to the original , and pulled along by two cold blood horses , and also passed by the impressive city gym stand , where the results of their " Roman project week " were revealed . From 13 to 21 September , the community of Wachtberg will also participate in a Roman week , in what is being called Roman Year 2014 throughout the Rhineland . The event will remember the death of Kaiser Augustus 2000 years ago . Together with the clubs dedicated to local , regional and historical traditions and characteristics , as well as the Wachtberg hiking club , the partnership association , and the Oberbachem amateur dramatics club , hiking , recitals , cooking evening and guidance for school classes , among other things , will be offered , and the Roman history of Wachtberg shall be remembered . The Roman legionnaire will , for example , talk about his drafty work in Wachtberg ; plants will be presented as living monuments of Roman times , and a humorous lesson on the matter of international understanding between a " Germanic " group from Wachtberg and Roman invaders will be showcased . Adendorf elementary school has devoted itself to a week ##AT##-##AT## long , Roman ##AT##-##AT## themed project . The Roman week should , once again , enable us to experience the numerous and common , yet , at first glance , no longer visible , traces of the Romans in Wachtberg . Wachtberg town hall will give a small presentation on the sanctuary in Berkum , which was found in 1879 . Ebola : The epidemic is putting strain on West Africa 's economy The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is also a huge hit for the economy . Markets have been abandoned , and international companies are keeping their distance . The devastating Ebola epidemic has dealt the economy in West Africa a heavy blow . Crops are rotting in the fields , mines have been deserted , and the markets have been abandoned . The virus has cost the region dearly . Even some international companies are keeping their distance . " The Ebola epidemic is not only a medical crisis , but also an economic one " , the head of the African Development Bank , Donald Kaberuka , concluded . Liberia is the most affected country " It is a total catastrophe ; we are losing a lot of money " , Alhaji Bamogo said , who sells clothes in the second largest market in Liberia 's capital city , Monrovia . The only people to come to the market are those who want to buy food or disinfectant against Ebola . Liberia is the country most affected by the virus ; here alone more than 600 people have fallen victim to the fever . The health authorities recently explained that the disease has reached all corners of the country . The virus has even spread to Guinea , Sierra Leone and Nigeria . In total , more than 1500 people have already died , and thousands more have been infected . Foreign businesses are pulling their employees out All over countries rich with resources , companies are suspending operations . Foreign companies such as the steel group Arcelor Mittal are withdrawing their employees , and several international airlines are no longer flying to affected regions . Even local traders and farmers are reacting : Only a few business people are still leaving their home towns to replenish their supplies . In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia , where they have been put under quarantine , cacao and coffee beans , to name a few , and which are important for export , are rotting in the fields . The farmers do not dare leave their homes for the crops . Food suppliers are scarce " People are traveling less and less " , Phillipe De Vreyer , a Parisian expert on the economy of West Africa said . For example , a man , who normally goes to the market and sells his vegetables , is choosing to stay at home . The population is , therefore , facing the consequences of the epidemic head on and feeling the pressure : Food suppliers are scarce . The supply of staple foods such as rice is dwindling in the markets . At the same time , the image of the region , which is heavily reliant on international companies , is under threat , and this has far ##AT##-##AT## reaching consequences . The biggest danger is that international companies are avoiding the region for what is essentially a long time , Phillippe Hugon , from the French Think Tank , Iris , said . What is crucial is how wide and how long the virus will continue to spread . Investors may get the impression " that it is dangerous to live in Guinea , Sierra Leone and Liberia , and , therefore , also to invest " , Hugon warned . The disease is also burdening the already strained national budgets of the States The disease is also burdening the already strained national budgets of the affected States . The rating agency Moody 's fears that their budgets are being heavily strained by the high expenditure on the health system , and also by the declining economy . The African Development Bank has already promised to provide financial aid to the tune of 60 million dollars ( 45 million euros ) to the health systems of affected countries . The effects in Nigeria , where up to now only a few Ebola cases have been diagnosed , are already noticeable . Yet the oil ##AT##-##AT## rich region in the south of the Niger Delta is not yet affected . However , elsewhere , many people are already staying at home for fear of becoming infected . There is even a marked decline in the number of hotel reservations . Shooters are celebrating their 50th anniversary The gun club " Tannenwald " in Berngau is celebrating its 50th anniversary from 12th to 14th September . The preparations for the party are well underway in Tannenwald gun club , which will celebrate 50 years since being established on 12th to 14th September . The plan for Friday 12th September is an evening of entertainment provided by the group " Dorfrocker " . The large cannon will be fired on Saturday at 18 : 00 . Followed by a pleasant evening with " Stoapfälzer Spitzbuam " ( Stoapfälzer rascals ) in a large party tent . A brass band will be catering for the music The highlights on Sunday will be the festival service , which will take place at 9 : 30am in the parish church , and also the processions at 2pm . There will also be a ranking announcement in the afternoon for the national and county shooting competition . A particularly attractive sight will be the 25 festival women in their Dirndls . The festival band will be Berngau brass band . Mayor Wolfgang Wild and state secretary Albert Füracker have taken on the sponsorship . The original name , " Schützengesellschaft Tannenwald Berngau " ( gun society Tannenwald Berngau ) dates back to 1907 , when , on 21st March , the club was founded and described as " social entertainment by means of pistol and small ##AT##-##AT## caliber target practice " . In 1937 the Nazi regime closed the club down . Then on 30th April 1964 , 19 young men founded the club again , and launched the " new " gun club " Tannenwald " in Berngau at Lukas guest ##AT##-##AT## house . Karl März and Adolf Ried led the club as range officers during its tough early years . The main objective then was to find a club pub and set up a shooting company . As early as autumn 1965 the shooting club started out in " Leininger " guest house with two teams competing against one another . The following year , target shooting was set up as a sport , organized into seven teams , ranging in ability , all the way up to the local premier league . The club records roll out every year , and the magic 380 rounds were set up for the first time in 1980 by Rudi Meier . Just as the achievements of the active members has increased , so have the number of members . Once the club pub " Leininger " no longer met the requirements of a modern gun club , the club 's management at the time , lead by Johann Rinn , decided to set up its future home in the basement room of the new " Landgasthof Härteis " ( a country hotel ) . After 2700 hours of hard work , Father Strasser issued the blessing of the church for the new guns room on 8th May 1988 . One of the greatest highlights in the history of the club was without doubt the 44th local shooting competition , which is linked to the formal consecration of the new shooting flag in July 1991 . On 23rd and 24th April 1994 , the shooting club celebrated its 30th anniversary . In 1995 the cannon group was founded . Josef Schmalzl was the head of the cannon division . Organizing the Bavarian Cannon Meeting in 2005 was a huge challenge for the " cannon shooters " , and for the club as a whole . Many hours of voluntary work was dedicated by members of the club last year to modernize the rooms and shooting facilities in the Berngau courtyard , making it state of the art . Eleven teams go head to head The sporting achievements of the shooting club are also impressive . Currently there are a total of eleven teams that are taking part in the competitions : six air rifles teams , one pellet gun team , one KK1 sport target pistol team , one youth team and two old ##AT##-##AT## timer teams . The first team comprised of Lars Ellrich , Katharina Ellrich , Steffi Grad and Kerstin Kellermann was promoted to number 1 in the regional league in 2013 / 14 , up from the local premier league ( the highest of the shooting leagues in the ANB ) . The second team comprised of Verena Moosburger , Alexandra Meier , Eva Schuhmann and Tobias Graml was promoted from the North local league to the local premier league . In addition to shooting , events such as Bockstechen , Fasching and Königsball , club excursions and also Christmas celebrations are all club traditions . The shooters also attend the parish and community festivals . Tony Stewart crashes in return to track Tony Stewart 's return to the track has ended only a little over halfway through his race at Atlanta Motor Speedway . Stewart hit the wall for the second time after his right front tire blew out on lap 172 , ending his night . Stewart drove his battered car to the garage and then exited without speaking to reporters . His crew chief Chad Johnston said the 14 team was disappointed , but will now start focusing on next weekend 's race in Richmond , Virginia . " I wish we could have had a better effort and a better finish for him , " Johnston said . We 'll go on to Richmond and hope we can do better there . Stewart first went into the wall earlier in Sunday night 's race following a collision with Kyle Busch , requiring work to the right side of his car . " I went into today with some pretty good hopes of finishing well , " Johnston said , adding , " It just didn 't work out . " Not long after the second crash , Stewart 's car was loaded onto the hauler and the team was packed up and ready to leave . Stewart skipped three NASCAR Sprint Cup races after his car struck and killed a fellow driver in a dirt ##AT##-##AT## track race in upstate New York . He decided to return this week , needing to win either at Atlanta or the next race at Richmond to claim a spot in the Chase . He returned to work as an investigation into the tragic incident that resulted in the death of 20 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old Kevin Ward Jr . , who had stepped on the track to confront Stewart during a race . Authorities said Friday that the probe into the cause of the crash will last at least another two weeks . No decision has been made about whether Stewart will face charges . The three ##AT##-##AT## time champion received a big cheer when he was introduced before the race . Starting in the 12th spot , Stewart ran in the top 10 early in the race , getting as high as fourth . Then , on lap 122 after a restart , Busch 's No . 18 machine got loose coming out of turn 2 and banged into Stewart , sending both cars against the wall . Stewart carried on but dropped back to 21st . Dance ##AT##-##AT## crazy youths wanted Just try it : Laura , Lena , Lisa , Marie , Bettina , Emma and manager Lisa Neitzel ( from left to right ) are looking forward to new members . Like many other clubs , the jazz group also runs a day ##AT##-##AT## long class in TV Jahn in order to make it to the prep school . Some groups have seen sharp declines in attendees after the summer holidays . Now , they are eagerly on the look out for youths for a sport which is healthy and a lot of fun . There are now only nine children in both the jazz and modern dance group given by Lisa Neitzel , former dancer in the jazz and modern dance formation " Spirits " . The 20 ##AT##-##AT## year old tells us there are " three in the eight to twelves , six in the twelves to 15 " . If there were more active participants , the whole thing would be a lot more fun , " we could dance to completely different choreographs " , she said . Anyone interested in dancing can come along and have a go , there is no obligation to join . The session run on Thursdays between 5 and 6 , and on Fridays from 5 until 6 : 30 PM in the dance room at what was Hotel Meyer , 9 Freistraße . " Training usually starts with a warm up program " , the trainer explained . We then practice different choreographs . JazzDance is such that there is no hard and fast way of doing it , which makes it open to many styles . Elements ranging from folklore and classical to sports and acrobatics are worked into Jazz Dance . And of course , the socializing isn 't bad either . " We sometimes go out to eat , watch dance films , and we have also slept over in the dance hall before now " , Lisa Neitzel tells us . You can make friends in the group , share a wonderful hobby , and also do a great deal for your own motor development . If Jazz is not your thing , then you can also come along and try out one of the other groups offered by TV Jahn . Children and youngsters are always welcome to pop in and have a go during Wednesday 's class . They can choose from children 's dancing / jazz , video clip dancing and hip ##AT##-##AT## hop . The dance teacher is Francisco Afonso . Adult couples are welcome to attend the dance evenings on Mondays and Wednesdays . If you are interested in discofox , slow waltzes , Viennese waltzes , rumba , cha ##AT##-##AT## cha ##AT##-##AT## cha or the tango , drop in and take part . Bulgaria 's Prison Officers Stage National Protest Hundreds of prison workers from across Bulgaria have held a national protest in front the Justice Ministry in the capital Sofia . In a peaceful demonstration , they have reiterated their calls for the old working conditions , which were recently changed , to be restored . Higher salaries are also among a list of requests due to be discussed with interim Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov . For a month , officers have protested symbolically against the new working hours , demanding to return to the old 24 hour shifts . Despite the meetings between the prison officers union and the Justice Ministry representatives , an agreement was not reached , Bulgarian National Radio ( BNR ) informs . Negotiations are ongoing , the head of the Chief Directorate on the Execution of Penalties Rosen Zhelyazkov told BNR . The protest of the prison workers union is expected to be joined by members of the Trade Union Federation of the Employees in the Ministry of Interior . Ukrainian army has abandoned Luhansk airport Pro ##AT##-##AT## Russian fighters are gaining ground again in East Ukraine . Following heavy fighting in which Russian tank divisions are also said to have participated , the Ukrainian army has today , Monday , abandoned Luhansk airport , the rebel stronghold . The army announced at the same time that over the past 24 hours , seven soldiers have been killed . The Ukrainian President , Petro Poroschenko , had previously taken appropriate action personally due to the heavy defeats suffered by his army in the fight against the separatists , and announced changes to the senior leadership of the army without going into detail . Pro ##AT##-##AT## Russian separatists shot down an aircraft In the fight against Ukrainian government troops , pro ##AT##-##AT## Russian separatists say that they have once again shot down a warplane and two military helicopters . Rebel forces announced on Monday that around 100 soldiers are also believed to have been injured or killed in fighting in the Donezk region ; according to Russian agencies . Coastguard ships sunk The rebels also claimed that for the first time they have sunk two of the Ukrainian coastguard 's boats in the Sea of Azov . The Ukrainian border police confirmed that two of its ships came under fire on Sunday near to the harbor town of Mariupol . During the attack seven border guards were injured , according to a spokesperson speaking to the station 112.ua in Kiev . Two crew members are missing . Local media blamed Russia for the incident . In addition to this , the separatists reported that they have taken control of several towns and villages in the Donezk region . Diplomatic offensive in Minsk The Ukrainian contract group are meeting today in the Belorussian capital city of Minsk . Representatives from Ukraine , Russia and the OSCE , as well as an ambassador for the separatists from East Ukraine should take part . Prior to the meeting , all parties used their appearance as a means of publicly announcing their demands . NATO does not want to break agreements with Russia NATO will not break their agreements with Russian as a result of their planned deployment to East Europe in response to the Ukrainian crisis . In Brussels on Monday , the Secretary General of NATO , Anders Fogh Rasmussen , said that NATO will adhere to the NATO ##AT##-##AT## Russia Council formation agreement of 1997 . Nevertheless , the head of NATO accused Russia of " a flagrant breach " of the agreement . " Today we must face up to the reality that Russia does not consider NATO as a partner " , Rasmussen said . Documents and statements from the Russian side reveal " that they consider us as enemies " . Strengthened NATO presence Rasmussen also announced that he wants to strengthen the presence of NATO in East Europe . A NATO summit meeting in Wales to decide on a " Readiness Action Plan " will ensure that " we will have a more visible NATO presence in the East , if needs be " , Rasmussen explained in Brussels on Monday . Kiev and Moscow have agreed to new talks on gas According to official data , Russia and Ukraine have agreed to new talks to settle disputes over gas . The negotiations have been scheduled to take place next Saturday , the Russian Minister of Energy , Alexander Nowak , said on Monday . The decision of the European Union as to whether they will also send a representative to the talks is yet to be made . Due to the disputes over gas prices , Ukraine has not been receiving fuel from Russia for weeks . The EU Energy Commissioner , Günther Oettinger has recently arbitrated between the two sides . Ukraine warned that Russia could also suspend the gas supply to Europe . Europe purchases around one third of its natural gas from Russian sources , a large proportion of which flows through Ukraine . Merkel puts her foot down : " Let 's be clear " , tolls will come Once again the Chancellor makes herself clear . However , there is still no charter explaining all the complex details . Stiff opposition from the CDU against the tolls is making the CSU increasingly angrier . Following persistent opposition from the CDU , the Chancellor of Germany , Angela Merkel , has put her foot down with regard to the introduction of tolls . " Let 's be crystal clear : They are mentioned in the coalition agreement , and we will have them " , the party leader said on Monday following a CDU party conference with top committees in Berlin . But Merkel has not , for the time being , established a detailed model . " Certain parameters " were mentioned in the black ##AT##-##AT## red government program . The Minister of Transport , Alexander Dobrindt ( CSU ) " made a suggestion , and we are continuing to work on it " . The NW ##AT##-##AT## CDU , however , is insisting that tolls on all streets be objected against . Merkel stressed that even the Minister of Finance , Wolfgang Schäuble ( CDU ) , is participating constructively in the consultations on the draft bill . He has spoken with Dobrindt on the topic and about further possibilities for capitalizing more and investing more in infrastructure , such as developing broadband . " There is nothing special about it " . On Sunday , Schäuble let an article in the Spiegel pass without comment , which stated that his house is testing its own concept for compensating motorway investors with returns on the tolls - after the 2017 election . As a result , the leader of the CSU , Horst Seehofer , warned about developing toll concepts in the cabinet against the Minister in charge . The deputy leader of the CDU , Armin Laschet , reinforced his objections . " The coalition agreement never assumed that all district and A ##AT##-##AT## roads would get tolls " , the state chairman for North Rhine ##AT##-##AT## Westphalia said . The fact that Seehofer has now announced that he will discuss this topic again is an important sign . Opposition to the plans has also been received from the CDU state association in Baden ##AT##-##AT## Württemberg and Rhineland ##AT##-##AT## Palatinate . This is due to concerns that a toll would have a negative impact on small ##AT##-##AT## scale border traffic to neighboring states . Seehofer has demanded loyalty to the coalition following criticism of the tolls from members of the CDU . Die Linke ( the Lefties ) are considering the plans a failure given the arguing within the union . " The messed up toll is dead " , Bernd Riexinger , the party leader , told the " Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung " ( newspaper ) on Monday . " If the toll fails , the Minister fails " . Dobrindt wants to introduce an obligation to have toll labels on all German streets as of 2016 . According to the coalition agreement , car owners in German must not , however , have to face additional charges . As such , road tax should be offset against tolls for them . According to EU law , however , the model must not disadvantage foreign drivers due to their nationality . Genetic disorder often misdiagnosed A British woman says she spent many years thinking she was going to die after a misdiagnosis . Karin Rodgers spent most of her teenage life believing that she only had years to live after she was diagnosed with another disease . She actually had Charcot ##AT##-##AT## Marie ##AT##-##AT## Tooth disease ( CMT ) - a group of inherited disorders that damage nerves outside the brain and spine . Charity CMT UK said that misdiagnosis is a common problem among people with CMT because so little is known about the condition . About 23,000 people in the UK are thought to have CMT , which can cause motor symptoms such as muscle weakness , an awkward gait and curled toes . Sufferers can also experience numbness or pain and the condition is incurable and progressive , meaning symptoms get worse over time . When Rodgers was 13 she was under the impression that she suffered from Friedreich 's ataxia ( FA ) - a condition which had a very poor prognosis . Rodgers thought that she was going to be wheelchair bound by the time she was 18 and dead before she reached her 30s . The mother ##AT##-##AT## of ##AT##-##AT## two , who is now 51 , said : " As a child I knew I couldn 't do the same things as others . I was falling daily and everything took me longer to do . I could never roller ##AT##-##AT## skate or skateboard with other kids and got bullied at school a lot because of the way I walked and ran . Rodgers said when she was aged 13 , after several operations to release her Achilles tendons and straighten out her feet , she took a peak at her medical notes when her consultant left the room which said that she suffered from FA . " I felt guilty because I 'd been nosy and so I didn 't tell anybody , but I did come home , look up the condition at the library and wrote to the FA Association , " she said . When I got the information back I was gobsmacked and in the worst state of panic possible . I thought I 'd be in a wheelchair at 18 and dead by the time I was 25 and in between gradually lose all my ability . I was going through this on my own and I planned my own funeral . She said by the time she reached 17 she realised that her walking abilities hadn 't deteriorated as much as she thought they would have and asked her surgeon about it . He just stood up and hugged me and said ' my dear I don 't think you have it , as you would be in a wheelchair now.' I think you have something a lot less life threatening . After some genetic testing she was found to have CMT . " When he explained what CMT was , I thought I 'd drawn the lucky straw , " she said . Charity CMT UK has launched CMT awareness month to try to draw attention to the condition . Retired Sergeant Major Berni Biether has been working as an artificer ever since the closure of the former military training ground Not a shot has been fired in the former military training ground in Münsingen for almost ten years . Nevertheless , deadly ammunition turns up in the center of the biosphere region of Swabian Jura every month . The shells are sometimes so dangerous still that they have to be detonated there . A deafening bang echoes across the center of the biosphere region upon detonation . The last live round to be fired at the military training ground in Münsingen was in December 2004 , which , at the end of 2005 , after 110 years of military operation , was closed down . Since then , the 6500 hectares of land has been the center of the Swabian Jura 's biosphere region , which opened up 13 designated pathways for hikers and cyclists . Washington ##AT##-##AT## area business owners " tax burden mounts as economy rebounds A rebounding economy means more customers , higher sales and new jobs . It also means higher taxes . State and local tax bills for companies across the country grew modestly last year as the economic recovery accelerated , according to new research released last week , and Washington ##AT##-##AT## area firms were no exception . District , Maryland and Virginia businesses collectively paid $ 27.6 billion to state and local coffers in fiscal 2013 , an increase of 3.8 percent over the $ 26.6 billion collected in 2012 . Businesses " state and local tax burdens last year expanded by 4.3 percent , to $ 671 billion , compared with 3.9 percent the year before , and it was the third consecutive year of growth after back ##AT##-##AT## to ##AT##-##AT## back years of shrinking bills in 2009 and 2010 . State taxes rose at a faster clip , 4.3 percent , than local levies , 3.9 percent , according to the study , which was conducted by professional services firm Ernst & Young and the Center on State Taxation , a tax policy group . More than half of the District 's tax revenue , 56 percent , comes from business taxes , while 36 percent of Maryland 's revenue comes from firms . Virginia , at 28 percent , generates the least amount of tax revenue , proportionately , from business . Much of the growth in tax revenue is being driven by a rebound in companies " real estate values , researchers say , which pushed property taxes up 3.7 percent this year after three consecutive years of sub ##AT##-##AT## 1 percent growth . While a large share of those gains came from big states such as California , New York and Texas , it appears to be the same story in the Washington area as well . Companies in the District , Maryland and Virginia collectively forked over $ 10 billion in state and local property taxes last year , up from $ 9.6 billion in 2012 - year ##AT##-##AT## over ##AT##-##AT## year growth of 4.2 percent . But the apparent bounceback in property values isn 't doing nearly as much to inflate state and local tax revenues in Maryland , where property taxes amount to barely more than a fifth of companies " tax bills . Virginia and D.C. firms pay nearly half of their state and local tax bills in the form of property taxes . " What 's happening in Maryland is that so much of their property , especially the tax base surrounding the D.C. area , is owned either by the government or by nonprofits , which don 't pay property taxes , " said Douglas Lindholm , executive director of the Center on State Taxation . So Maryland is forced to rely much more heavily on , for example , its income taxes to pay for the same services you have in other states . The recent rebound in business tax revenue cannot all be attributed to the recovering real estate market . Business incomes also appear to be on the mend , according to the data . Companies in the region reported state corporate income taxes of $ 2.3 billion , up from $ 2.1 billion in 2012 . Maryland collected $ 1 billion in corporate income tax revenue , the most in the region . While trending in the same direction , the local tax burden on businesses isn 't growing at the same pace in all three places . The District 's rate of growth was level with the national average , at 4.3 percent , while Maryland 's growth was substantially faster at 4.9 percent . Only Virginia posted a below ##AT##-##AT## average tax bill bump of 4.1 percent . Virginia has the lowest corporate income tax by far of the three jurisdictions ( all of which have flat corporate rates ) at 6 percent . Maryland 's corporate rate is 8.25 percent , while the District 's stands at a relatively high 9.975 percent . A similar study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier this year showed that Virginia had lower state and local business taxes and an overall better business tax climate than Maryland . The District wasn 't evaluated in the study . Despite its advantage , Virginia is facing competitive pressure from its neighbor to the south . North Carolina recently signed legislation lowering its corporate rate this year from 6.9 percent to 6 percent , in line with Virginia , and the rate will drop to 5 percent next year . If the state continues to meet revenue goals in the coming year , the law could push the state 's business income tax rate as low as 3 percent by 2017 . Meanwhile , small businesses in the Washington region seem to be faring better and thus paying more state and local taxes , according to the recent study . Business taxes paid as personal income taxes by small business owners - the pass ##AT##-##AT## through structure by which most small firms are organized - in the District , Maryland and Virginia surged 20 percent last year to $ 2.4 billion , a much faster rate of growth than overall business taxes . Researchers say that trend and the increase in business taxes nationwide are likely to continue this year , with overall sales tax revenue for state and local governments up 6.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2014 compared with the same period last year . However , the Washington area may lag behind as the slowdown in federal spending takes its toll on the region 's labor market . Twin town : German beer for Guangzhou Hops and malt - a popular combination even in China . German beer is enjoying an excellent reputation in China . Frankfurt 's twin town in China would like a brewery , and also hopes for a direct flight connection between the two cities . German beer brewed in Frankfurt 's twin town of Guangzhou - that is the burning desire of the Chinese officials . " We would be delighted if a German brewery would set up business in our city " , the deputy party secretary of the southern Chinese city , Li Yiwei , said this week during a visit to the city by an SPD delegate . Time and time again throughout the conversation , the official of the ruling communist party in China came back to this wish of the twelve million people metropolis . Guangzhou , which is also known as Canton in Germany , is one of the richest cities in China Li advertised . So , the people also have the buying power to afford German beer . The Hessian SPD chairman Thorsten Schäfer ##AT##-##AT## Gümbel , who led the German delegation , said to the host that he would keeps his ears open in Germany for a possible partner . " You don 't need a lot to make beer : good water , grain and a zest for life " , he added over lunch with the senior party member in Guangzhou . This zest for like already beams out of Mr Li , he said flattering the host . After that , the official from Guangzhou clicked glasses with Schäfer ##AT##-##AT## Gümbel - albeit with red wine , which was served with dinner . The Chinese brand Tsingtao has traces leading back to the German art of brewing . Tsingtao beer is brewed according to the German purity law . More business operations A second wish of the Chinese host would be a direct flight connection between Frankfurt and Guangzhou , the deputy party leader , Li , said . Lufthansa used to offer such a flight , but canceled it for economic reasons in 2012 . " It would be worth it again " , the local politician seemed convinced . " The business operations between our two cities are continuing to grow " . At present , travelers would have to take a detour via Changsha in the province of Hunan , Li complained . The administration of the province of Guangdong , whose capital city is Guangzhou , is also hoping for a flight connection . The deputy governor of the province , Chen Yunxian , emphasized this wish during his talks with the social democrat . " That is a very good idea " , Schäfer ##AT##-##AT## Gümbel answered - the Chinese deputy minister , Li Jinjun , an intimate expert on Germany , nodded in agreement . Well ##AT##-##AT## cultivated partnership The affable deputy party leader of Guangzhou hopes to visit Frankfurt next year for a partnership meeting . Li Yiwei has already been to the Main , but not in the capacity of his role . He only took up office this year after his predecessor was removed from office over corruption allegations . Even the party leader of the region , Wan Qinglian , had to leave . The action taken against the officials from Guangzhou is part of the nationwide campaign against corruption in parties and the administration , which was rigorously implemented by the head of state , Xi Jinping . Before his career in politics , the new senior politician , Li Yiwei , worked for an American company , which is highly unusual in the Chinese communist party . Before taking office in Guangzhou , he was working as a senior official in Fujian , where car manufacturer VW has built a large factory . Frankfurt has officially adopted more than a dozen twin cities . Guangzhou , one of the twin cities located some 9000 kilometers away , is a connection that will be well looked after and cherished by both sides ; for example , with a school exchange . Last year marked the 25 year of German ##AT##-##AT## Chinese relations . The South China metropolis , which lies on the Pearl River , is almost as strong as the whole of Hessen thanks to its economic power . Next year they would like to reach a gross domestic product of 250 billion euros , Li reported . Joan Rivers ' Family Keeping ' Our Fingers Crossed' Joan Rivers has been unconscious since her arrival three days ago at a New York City hospital , but her daughter expressed hope today that the 81 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old comedian will recover from her illness . " Thank you for your continued love and support , " Melissa Rivers said in a statement today . We are keeping our fingers crossed . Her mother arrived at Mount Sinai Hospital Thursday after an emergency call that she was in cardiac arrest at an Upper East Side clinic , Yorkville Endoscopy , sources said . Doctors are intentionally keeping her sedated and under close supervision until they 're more comfortable with her condition , which remains " serious . " Reaction has been widespread , including overwhelming online support from the likes of Donald Trump , Montel Williams and Kelly Ripa . Environmentally friendly vacuum cleaners and increasing wages Strict environmental standards for the future shall apply to all cars and vacuum cleaners that go on sale as of today . As of September 1st , new vacuum cleaners will come with a label , similar to that on refrigerators and washing machines , which will allow buyers to see key information at a glance , such as the energy efficiency of the appliance . New cars that fall under the emissions class " Euro 6 " will receive a higher nitric oxide value . Aside from this , there is more money for scaffolders : They will receive a minimum wage of 10.25 euros as standard across the whole of Germany . Amazon buys Twitch for $ 1.04 billion AMAZON just confirmed what the Information reported Monday morning : The online retailer - and video producer , and a hundred other things - is buying video streaming service Twitch for $ 1.04 billion ( $ US970 million ) . The announcement comes as a surprise , not because no one expected Twitch to be bought , but because YouTube was widely expected to be the buyer . Three months ago the sale of Twitch to Google 's video service , for a cool billion , looked all wrapped up , and the pairing seemed natural . Twitch , founded only three years ago as Justin.tv , set out to be a general streaming service - a live version of YouTube . Instead , it quickly became a platform for gamers to broadcast their in ##AT##-##AT## game feats ; a " YouTube for live gaming , " in Business Insider 's words . Twitch 's interface . And " let 's play , " a genre of videos in which wiseacres give ( mostly older ) games the Mystery Science Theater treatment , are already popular on YouTube . The point is , YouTube comes up a lot when describing Twitch , so the news that YouTube was acquiring Twitch was greeted with a yawn , a textbook example of an entrenched tech company buying out a potential competitor . It 's a mystery why the deal with YouTube fell through , considering it was reportedly willing to pay no less than Amazon . All we have at the moment is this statement from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear : " We chose Amazon because they believe in our community , they share our values and long ##AT##-##AT## term vision , and they want to help us get there faster . " Another mystery , frankly , is Twitch 's incredible success . To snobs like me who declare that they 'd rather play sports than watch them , it 's hard to see the appeal of watching games rather than taking up a controller myself . It 's one thing to look over your friend 's shoulder at 3 in the morning as she creeps through Resident Evil , and quite another to watch some rando get 20 headshots in a row in Call of Duty . All the games you could be watching right now . Another problem is that many of today 's most popular games are first ##AT##-##AT## person , so watching footage of them , without controlling the viewpoint yourself , can be a Do It Right ##AT##-##AT## worthy recipe for a headache . I concede that speedruns , in which the Roger Bannisters of our electronic age complete entire games in record time , are entertaining . But unless someone is a virtuoso at gaming or humour , his Twitch channel isn 't likely to be all that interesting . But what do sceptics like me know ? Twitch has 55 million unique visitors monthly and is the fourth ##AT##-##AT## largest source of peak internet traffic . How , exactly , will Amazon capitalise on this ? It 's hard to imagine Twitch being folded into Amazon Instant Video as elegantly as YouTube could have just swallowed Twitch . But Twitch has something any company would love to attract : hordes of advertiser ##AT##-##AT## coveted young men . As Twitch chief Shear said , Amazon and Twitch " are both believers in the future of gaming , " and the medium shows no sign of shrinking , even - gulp - as a spectator sport . Something is happening on the bouncy castle at the Burggartenfest ( castle garden festival ) . The organizers ' idea was right . Despite the heavy downpour of rain on Saturday evening , approximately 1200 music fans went to the open air festival in the castle garden . Admission had to be stopped on occasion . " It was annoying " , according to Ron Sem , one of the organizers . Salzwedel lights and fun . Maxim Sachraj and Ron Sem coined the name " Armula " from two Spanish words . Since the open air castle garden in Salzwedel was supposed to beam out bright lights during the wide range of daytime and evening shows . Well , you make your own fun anyway . This was already apparent early on Saturday when the first visitors set off for the open air . The organizers promised a festival fit for all generations . And that is what they delivered . Around the supplies stand located in the meadows of the castle garden , people from Salzwedel , but also guests from near and far , made themselves at home . They followed the first live performance , tapped their feet in time , and enjoyed refreshments . In short : Pure relaxation and enjoyment . And that goes for all generations . Whilst some people sprawled out on blankets placed on top of the white sand around the beach bar , which had been carted in especially , others indulged in a glass of wine in the wine store , and the kids went crazy on the bouncy castle , which was a huge attraction for the little guests . However , even the children 's face painting kept the volunteers ' hands full , in the strictest meaning of the word , as the children rushed to become men , and conjure up fanciful creations on their small faces . The more grown up ones played on the football table or took part in a skateboard workshop , which the Goodfoot ##AT##-##AT## Crew from Salzwedel had organized . And then the rain came . Shortly before 5 : 30 PM the rain pelted down onto the visitors ; and families did a runner in search of somewhere dry . Despite this , the festival 's attractions did not get called off . " More people than expected came " , Rom Sem said , who called the event a " success all round " . As such , nothing is going to stop them from repeating the big party next year . Even though more has to be done in terms of the size and content of the event , the first balance sheet done on Sunday made the voice of the people crystal clear for Sem . He said that one annoying thing was that they had to stop allowing entry into the event temporarily . Apparently not enough security guards had been booked with the security company . The consequence : Some people who had already paid could no longer get into the grounds . Feedback has been very good . In a preliminary and cautious estimation , the Salzwedel co ##AT##-##AT## organizer estimated that around 1200 visitors attended the castle garden . There were problems with the sound engineering . The hip hop band from Salzwedel , Blocks ' n ' Rox , abandoned their performance somewhat unnerved by these problems . The engineers could not get a half ##AT##-##AT## decent sound out of it . A shisha lounge had been planned but could not be built because the tents could not be delivered to Salzwedel due to a puncture . The organizer insisted that " they will , however , be there next year " . The premier of the Amula ##AT##-##AT## Open ##AT##-##AT## Airs was more than a success in terms of the number of visitors . And that was with bad weather . Nevertheless , the organizers have made some mistakes , which will be excused as it was their first time , but which have to be avoided next time round . The event organizers also had to accept criticism on the social networking site Facebook . " Sorry , but for twelve euros , I really expected more " , Melanie Meier commented on the event 's page . " Unfortunately , you bit off more than you could chew " , according to Ele Zimmermann on the same page . For others , the teething problems were not such a big issue . I think it is really good that some people are not just standing around talking rubbish , but are actually making a real effort to get something up and running . Hats off ! " , Stephanie Jenß wrote about Amula . Now the organizers have a year 's time to address these criticisms . New radar dome in Berkum : Wachtberg 's landmark dwindles And not as one would expect . In fact , the structural element , which is ready , is waiting to be installed onto the structure . But this is just one of many things that need doing : Almost 50 years after the construction of the space observation radar TIRA , the case , known as the radar dome , is to be completely rebuilt . With a diameter of 47.5 meters , the new radar dome will be somewhat smaller than the old one . That said , the size will still be a world record . The final phase in completing the new case is to change the cap The top quarter of the old case will be separated and lifted by a crane . After that , the last quarter of the new case will be put in place . As long as the weather is on their side , this should take place at the start of this week . Ice Bucket Challenge participant dislocates her jaw Isabelle Roberts from in the UK shouted so hard while freezing water was poured over her head that she damaged the bone structure of her face . This Ice Bucket Challenge went painfully wrong . A woman has been hospitalised after screaming so hard during the Ice Bucket Challenge , that she dislocated her jaw . Isabelle Roberts shouted so violently while freezing water was poured over her head that she damaged the structure of her face . " The water was so cold so I screamed , but as I did it my jaw just started to stick , " she told The Mirror . Ice water is poured over the 20 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old 's . Isabelle Roberts moments before the accident I tried to close my mouth but it would not close , it was locked , and then I came to the realisation that something was up . Then my mum and sister came to the realisation and they started wetting themselves , but I had to be rushed to A & E. The 20 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old , from the UK , was taken to hospital to have her jaw repositioned after taking part in the viral craze on Tuesday . The clip has become an internet sensation , having been shared thousands of times on Facebook and twitter . Will the Burgvereine ( castle clubs ) get back together again ? Recently there have been a lot of disputes between both of the castle groups in Wolfratshausen . The boardroom is now contemplating the possibility of working together . As an example for the reconstruction of the castle in Wolfratshausen , the deceased Richard Dimbath , the former chairmen of Wolfratshauser Burgfreunde ( Wolfratshausen castle friends ) , led the project in the French Guédelon . Up until a year ago , there was a good atmosphere among the castle club and the castle friends group in Wolfratshausen . Their points of view are now markedly different with regard to how the history of Wolfratshausen castle and the possible reconstruction of it should be handled . Now the two are coming together : There should soon be talks about a joint venture . Torsten Sjöberg ( castle club ) and Herbert Piffl ( castle friends ) , both members of the board , confirmed this in answer to our newspaper 's query . " I have rung Mr Piffl and suggested that we get together " , Sjöberg reported . In his opinion , all members of each club could come together again in the future . This would enable quicker and more visible success to be achieved . Whereas the castle friends , and the recently deceased Richard Dimbath right up until the bitter end , had their eyes on reconstructing the castle in the mountain forest , the castle club , with Sjöberg , want to " develop and bring the premises to life " in its original place . Herbert Piffl , the deputy chairman of castle friends , said himself that he was very pleased about the call . He has been presiding over castle friends since the death of Dimbath . A new chairperson will be found mid September during a members ' meeting . At the moment , the club has around 40 members according to the 74 year old . " After the death of my friend , Richard Dimbath , we adjourned the club 's activities initially out of respect " . This " period of thought " has been necessary to " think about how it can proceed " . According to Piffl , the new chairperson will then enter into discussions with the castle club . Until then , the castle friends can get on with the current atmospheric picture within their group . Piffl said that , at the moment , they still do not have a candidate for the chair . " However , I am confident that we will find someone " . He himself does not want to stand for it because he lives in Bad Tölz . The new chairperson should be in Wolfratshausen . The man from Tölz would , however , " like to continue working with them " on the project . The different points of view on the subject of reconstruction will continue to exist for some time in Piffl 's eyes . He acknowledges Dimbath as a " missionary " , who always believed in the reconstruction of the castle . Two similar projects , which are well under way in Austria and France , show that this idea is no easy task . But with a high number of participants among the population , as well as some volunteers from all over the world , it will become a tourist magnet . Piffl : " Even I was skeptical at first . However , with time , I have become more and more convinced that it makes sense to press ahead with the project " . It could create a " unique characteristic " for the city of raftsmen . Otherwise , there is nothing here . In addition , the project would be financed by EU grants , visitor tickets and potential sponsors , Piffl believes . " The idea of reconstruction is , therefore , something that I personally do not want to simply abandon . He hopes that the castle club will move towards this idea somewhat . Their aim to first of all document the history " is important and good " . Then , we will see . Smart ways to save on college textbooks With the cost of college textbooks surpassing $ 1,000 a year for many students , soon ##AT##-##AT## to ##AT##-##AT## be sophomore Matt Schroeder came up with a smart way to trim costs . He worked out a system of borrowing books from upperclassmen , offering nominal compensation to get them to delay selling them back . " My calculus book that usually costs $ 180 , I got for the semester for $ 10 and a Chick ##AT##-##AT## fil ##AT##-##AT## A biscuit , " says Schroeder , 19 , who attends Covenant College in Georgia . Required texts for his last semester would have cost $ 430 , he says . He spent $ 120 . The College Board says the average student will spend more than $ 1,200 a year on textbooks and school supplies , but students have a variety of options for managing these costs . Online outlets and creative approaches like Schroeder 's are increasingly the go ##AT##-##AT## to choices for students . Renting textbooks is on the rise , allowing students to use a book for the semester , often at a significant discount to buying . Neebo Inc , which operates more than 250 campus bookstores , says textbook rentals have doubled since 2011 . Industry research shows that about one ##AT##-##AT## fourth of books at college bookstores in this past spring semester were rented , says Neebo Vice President Trevor Meyer . Fewer than half of all texts are purchased at campus bookstores , according to the National Association of College Stores trade association . Here is the 101 on the best ways to score a deal . Buying online Some new book prices can be one ##AT##-##AT## third of what you might find at the campus bookstore if you go online . The ninth edition of " Calculus " by Ron Larson , Bruce Edwards , and Robert Hostetler carries a list price of nearly $ 290 but can be purchased new for $ 239.99 at specialty textbook retailer Chegg.com. Buying used If you do not mind other people 's notes or wear and tear , used texts are a good option . " Calculus " is selling for $ 93.49 used on Chegg.com. Matt Casaday , 25 , a senior at Brigham Young University , says he had paid 42 cents on Amazon.com for a used copy of " Strategic Media Decisions : Understanding The Business End Of The Advertising Business . " The book was selling for $ 48 new . Academics like Ingrid Bracey , director of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst 's College Without Walls , suggest students check with their professors to see if previous editions are acceptable . Sometimes the updates are not relevant to the classwork . If so , old editions can often be found for a tiny fraction of the cost of the latest version . Besides Chegg and Amazon , eBay Inc 's Half.com is a popular alternative for used books . Renting Renting your textbooks is worth considering if you take reasonable care of them , you remember to return them and you do not care to own them after you complete the class . You can save more than 80 per cent of the cost of buying a book new . For example , a student could rent " Calculus " for the length of the semester for about $ 20 . Know the rules of the store you rent from , including any penalties you could be assessed for taking notes , highlighting , or wear and tear . Renter , beware : If you fail to return the book , penalties can actually exceed the cost of buying it new . E ##AT##-##AT## books Getting e ##AT##-##AT## books instead of traditional texts is another option . Sometimes those books are essentially rented by providing the electronic license for a specific period from distributors such as Amazon.com , Chegg and Barnes & Noble Inc . Chegg will rent " Calculus " for six months for about $ 61 . Bracey says students in literature classes can often find the best bargains since many classics are now available to download for free , while science and engineering texts can be extremely expensive . No matter what , shop around . Joe Gault , 29 , who is about to enter Pepperdine Law School , recommends using the ISBN number to price books since it ensures you are shopping for the right text . Before ordering online , Gault says , be sure to check if the book is actually in stock . He learned that lesson the hard way . A book he purchased was back ##AT##-##AT## ordered for four weeks , and he ended up paying full price at the college bookstore . Why the Guardians of the Galaxy couldn 't save the box office Sylvester Stallone 's The Expendables 3 has made back less than $ 30 million of its $ 90 million budget in the US , while Sin City : A Dame to Kill For has made back only $ 12 million of its $ 70 million budget . The Cameron Diaz vehicle Sex Tape took only $ 14.6 million in its opening weekend , while children 's films such as How To Train Your Dragon 2 are also showing disappointing box office returns . An article from Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin indicates that , when it comes to children 's movies , the poor quality of the films themselves might be to blame . Collin called 2014 the " the worst " year yet for children 's films , and described How To Train Your Dragon 2 as a merely " functional " fantasy sequel . But when it comes to film pitched at a slightly older market , it appears that the issue might not necessarily lie with the quality of the films themselves . In July , Entertainment Weekly compared the average CinemaScore and Metacritic ratings for every summer release playing on at least 2,000 screens between May 's Memorial Day holiday and July 20 , for 2013 and for this year . The results , which take the opinion of both cinema audiences and film critics into account , suggest that this year 's crop of films are of similar calibre last year 's hits . Some commentators have suggested that changing viewing habits and the increased popularity of web streaming services such as Netflix may be to blame . Director Jon Favreau , who is currently working on Disney 's forthcoming Jungle Book film , told the website Hollywood Reporter : " I think times are changing . " We have to acknowledge that and not try to chase what used to be . In contrast to Hollywood 's current box office slump , Netflix recently saw revenue from its streaming content service reach $ 1.2bn , almost doubling last year 's figure of $ 837m . Last summer , director Steven Spielberg criticised studios for relying too much on comic book franchises , and predicted a Hollywood " meltdown . " In light of the current downturn , some commentators are arguing that his dire prophecy may have held some truth to it . With summer 2015 set to usher in a slate of potential big box office hits , including Avengers : Age of Ultron , Minions and Jurassic World , other figures within the film industry are feeling more optimistic . X ##AT##-##AT## Men producer Simon Kinberg recently described the drop in box office takings as simply " cyclical , " telling Hollywood Reporter : " Next summer will be the biggest box ##AT##-##AT## office summer in history , and nobody will be worrying about the business . " A few years ago , when the second table tennis regional division was canceled in an attempt to streamline the leagues , a step in the right directions was taken . Now , the German table tennis association has introduced an additional , third league into the program . The consequence : Any team that has not been promoted , has been demoted . For example , Göttingen 's top class team , Torpedo , avoided demotion in the premier league relegation , but will now play in the fifth division as of next season . The Torpedo 's women 's team remain in the fourth division despite their superb clean ##AT##-##AT## sweep in the Regionalliga . The Torpedo boys and girls are starting in the Lower Saxony liga , just like the lads from SC Weende . The SG Lenglern and Torpedo reserves are stepping up into the new Verbandsliga , but there are no longer any clubs from Göttingern in the Landesliga . For the women , TTV Geismar does play in the Verbandsliga , and the Torpedo 's second team plays in the Landesliga . From a structural point of view , this seems to be a better regional division , when in fact , it is just the new Southern Regional Premier League . Stepping up into this are : TSV Seulingen , VfB Lödingsen , Torpedo III , Geismar , Einbeck , Hammenstedt , Bovender SV , Langenholtensen , FC Weser and TTC . Dransfeld and SC Weende represent the area in the regional league , whereas TTC II , Rot ##AT##-##AT## Weiß , Bovender SV II and TTV Geismar II and III represent the area in the regional division . The Regional Premier League for women is at least kicking off with a good start . Güntersen , TTC and TTV Geismar II are all here as part of the party . In the regional league , Torpedo III and Sattenhausen / Wöllmarshausen are taking to the field . With each of the nine teams SC Weende sends a girl into the small regional league . Even the regional league 's relay team for SCW boys , which is where Torpedo II is also starting , is not complete . As for the regional division , Geismar , Tuspo Weende and Bovender SV are heading into their season . In the first season of the newly ##AT##-##AT## founded regional association , both district divisions from Göttingen are starting out with each of the nine teams . As for the West relay team ; that is made up of Rot ##AT##-##AT## Weiß II , Bovender SV III , Laubach II , Torpedo IV and V , MTV Grone , Dransfelder SC II , Mielenhausen and SG Lenglern II . Sattenhausen / Wöllmarshausen , Nikolausberg and Landolfshausen are some of the teams making up the East relay team . The women 's district division is made up of Sattenhausen / Wöllmarshausen II , Bilshausen , Hemeln , Seulingen II , Tuspo Weende and SG Rhume . That is much better than the district of Osterode , where there are no longer any female teams at a district level . It is remarkable that none of the six second division teams in the district achieved their potential . The innovative and bustling district committee are going to have to come up with something . Nato summit : First protests in Newport and Cardiff There have been protests over the weekend by those opposed to the Nato summit in Newport . On Saturday , hundreds gathered in Newport city centre for an anti ##AT##-##AT## Nato march . And on Sunday in Cardiff , around 150 people came together at Cardiff 's county hall for what was described as a counter ##AT##-##AT## summit . Stephen Fairclough has been following developments for us over the weekend and has spoken to protesters who have travelled from Bridgend to Belgium . Teens airlifted from Blue Mountains TWO teenage bushwalkers have been winched to safety after spending the night stranded in the NSW Blue Mountains . THE 16 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old girl and 18 ##AT##-##AT## year ##AT##-##AT## old man went hiking just after midday on Sunday at Govetts Leap in Blackheath . Concerned relatives called police about 8pm when they hadn 't returned home . A search party involving local police and rescue squad was sent out and the pair were found about 11pm near Bridal Veil Falls . The girl had injured her knee and the man had fallen and hit his head . Officers remained with the pair overnight and they were winched out on Monday morning . They were taken by ambulance in a stable condition to Blue Mountains Hospital . Anti ##AT##-##AT## government protests escalate in Pakistan Around 1000 protesters have been forced out of the PTV buildings by soldiers , according to the Minister of Information , Pervaiz Rashid . After a good half an hour or so , the station began broadcasting again . The director of PTV , Athar Farooq , said that demonstrators armed with sticks had damaged equipment in the editorial offices . There was no mentioned of the number of people killed or injured . The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the Head of Government , accusing him of vote rigging . The police announced that on Monday , around one kilometer away from the residence of the Prime Minister , Nawaz Sharif , approximately 3000 demonstrators clashed with security forces . According to statements released by the hospital , a police officer was injured . At least three people were killed and more than 500 injured at the weekend when demonstrators attempted to gain access to Sharif 's residence . They are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister . Following a meeting in the army 's headquarters on Sunday evening , the powerful military called for a political solution to the conflict , stating there was " no time to waste or a need to use violence " . The statement also announced that : " The army remains bound by its duty to ensure the safety of the State " . The escalating violence stirred up concern that the military may have to intervene , a military that has already revolted on many occasions in the past . The above protests , led by Imran Khan , an opposition politician , and Tahirul Qadri , a preacher , have been ongoing since independence day on 14 August . Sharif is refusing to step down . On Sunday Khan and Qadri called upon their supporters to persevere . " We will not leave until we have forced Sharif to resign " , Khan said . Qadri made similar comments : Khan accuses Sharif of having fraudulently won the parliamentary vote last May . Qadri is demanding the resignation of both the central and provincial governments . A provisional government should then reform the voting system , and call new elections . More than 40,000 members of the security forces have been deployed to protect the government district . At first , the demonstrators led a peaceful protest in front of the parliament building . Then , at the weekend , Khan and Qadri called upon them to force entry into Sharif 's residence . After its second win of the season , Hütteldorf is in third place on the table . A bitter week came to an end for Rapid on Sunday with a 2 : 0 win over Grödig . Coach Zoran Barisic , whose team reached an interim low at the end of the Europa League on Thursday , said that " the victory is very liberating " . The captain and goalkeeper , Steffen Hofmann , who climbed up to third place with Grün ##AT##-##AT## Weiß , confirmed that " the sense of achievement was extremely important " . Schrammel 's dream goal has led Rapid on to a road to victory . Two winning seasons show that Rapid have reacted in the right way to the disappointment experienced against Helsinki , and they reach the end of the international season with heightened morale . " We wanted to show a positive reaction " , the defender Thomas Schrammel said , whose magnificent and skillful corner in the 14th minute set them on a winning course . " I thought I 'd build up all of the frustration from Thursday , and smashed it into the top of the net " , the 26 ##AT##-##AT## year old said smiling . 13th of November 2010 was , until now , the last time that Schrammel had scored in a team from the Bundesliga , and that was with Ried . His first championships goal at Rapid ##AT##-##AT## Dress will , therefore , always be a special memory for him . " That is something quite special for me , I am Rapid offspring " , Schrammel said . Due to Mario Pavelic 's recent pelvis injury , Schrammel moved from playing left back to right back , where he also did a very good job . He had enough experience to be able to play in the mirrored position . He deserved the goal , Barisic stated . He has already achieved some assists this year . The team shows character . Schrammel also crossed the ball over to Hofmann after the first hour , which led to the decisive 2 : 0 victory . But before that , even the fans could have kept the score . " Thank God we had some luck today " , Schrammel noted , alluding to the gap between the efforts made and results achieved in the past weeks : " The results were not justified , but the games were always better when compared to last year " . Barisic even decided that the team had previously played " better in other games than today " , and against " the strongest team to play in the stadium this season " . These are the first three points since 26th July , and therefore prove that the structure of the team is intact despite the setbacks : " Today , my team has shown that they have character " . For him , what is just as pleasing is : " The fact that we have finally played to a clean sheet again " . A lot of work was done during the internal football break . The unfortunate circumstances that led to the absence of Brian Behrendt , Mario Pavelic , Christopher Dibon , Deni Alar and Michael Schimpelsberger , as well as the fact that Srdjan Grahovac , Stefan Stangl and Philipp Schobesberger joined the first team , is what makes this success all the more valuable . " We must not forget that " , Barisic said , who has lost players in the last three days , including Behrendt and Pavelic , " who recently were very stable " . The international football break therefore has to be used " to lick wounds and to improve physically a bit " , Barisic explained , who has five under 21s in his ranks . For one of whom , captain Hofmann , the break came in particularly useful . He bends over backwards for the team , ignoring any pain . Especially during these difficult times , he showed that he is a very important player for us " , Barisic stated . Before being substituted in the 68th minute , Hofmann not only gave structure to Rapid 's game , but also scored the second goal . For the 33 ##AT##-##AT## year old , who played his 350th game in the Bundesliga , it was his first goal since November 2 , 2013 ( 4 : 2 against Admira ) . Hofmann : " We must not think that all is now well " . " I am sure we had a bit of luck on our side , but , at some point , that luck had to come back to us . It was high time " , Hofmann said . Of course , he spoke about focused and continued work : " You don 't have to always see things black and white . We haven 't been playing as badly in recent weeks as it has been made out to be . However , we mustn 't think that all is now well . His importance to the team is something that he could not deny . After all , it is a very young team , which , I am able to help at the moment . They hold on to me in certain phases " , Hofmann said . Grödig 's coach , Michael Baur and his team have little to blame themselves for . He is sorry about the quick counter goal , describing it as " a kind of magic goal " , as well as the normal goal scored by Nutz in the 40th minute , which was wrongfully denied by the referee , Kollegger . The only criticism I can make about the team is that we were sometimes not precise enough upfield . Because we had far to few goals . Center back , Maximilian Karner thought the same : " It started off badly , but we then found our feet , and even scored a goal . All in all , we could have had more . Silence prevails beneath this treetop Last Friday , when giving out the puzzle on the summer series " My piece of Rhön happiness " , we showed a mighty tree trunk . There are still several of these giant trees in the region ; the example shown is the " Geissruheiche " , an oak tree , which stands above the village of Unterweissenbrunn . A rocky footpath leads up to the somewhat 600 year old oak tree . You walk past enclosures , basalt cairns and a sea of stones . The tree is located just below the Bauersberg 's stone quarry , one kilometer north of the street to Weisbach . The natural monument looks energetic ; it towers above the other trees in the area , and , being more than eight meters in size , it reminds you of an American giant Sequoia . A small Buddha on top of a tree stub indicates that this is a spiritual or mystic place . Despite intensive research , there are only clues to the origins of the name . Dr Wolfgang Schneider has , once again , consulted the Bischofsheim Archives , and asked elderly people from Unterweissenbrunn in order to find out what it has to do with the Geissruheiche . The results of his investigation revealed a less colorful explanation of the name . According to his research , up to around 80 years ago , the goat herders are said to have led their animals out of Unterweissenbrunn along the arduous , cleared and stoneless meadows . The herdsmen , exhausted after the ascent , rested at the foot of the tree . Since then , the area has won back its significance , because herds of goats , once again grazing the meadows . In addition , Schneider also discovered that the region has been declared the core area in the biosphere reserve . One should exercise caution when treading over the mass of stone because the sun ##AT##-##AT## warmed basalt is also a popular whereabouts for the European viper . A hiking trail leads from Unterweissenbrunn up to the tree , but it is somewhat hidden . Further trails are signposted , which lead up towards Hochrhön and offer an extensive hike . Where is the moated castle ? A moated castle , which we looked for as part of our next challenge , is , of course , rather hard to find way up high . The reflection in the moat already provides a good impression of the structure , but we do have some historical buildings in the district , and the building portrait may just be a good example of this . Where is our " piece of Rhön happiness " ? My piece of Rhön happiness As with the other Main ##AT##-##AT## Post series over the years , there are prizes to be won again this year if you guess the correct answer . If you like to take photos , why not join in . Using " Stück vom Rhöner Glück " as the subject , send us your answer and your own personal " piece of Rhön happiness " to : red.neustadt @ mainpost.de. The nicest photos will be published . After weeks of verbal wrangling Italy 's Premier - and sitting EU ##AT##-##AT## Chairman - Matteo Renzi , has managed to push through his nomination of his foreign minister , Federica Mogherini , as head of EU- Foreign Policy , despite strong conservative opposition at the special EU summit . She will be the successor of the Britain , Catherine Ashton . Renzi observes how the government ##AT##-##AT## friendly daily newspaper , La Repubblica , describes the appointment of Mogherini , who was also seen as the favourite by the government , as a strengthening of the position of the Social Democrats and of his own position in the EU . He expects it to provide a boost for his " Reform Package " in Italy . Renzi hopes , not least , to be able to thus quieten the left ##AT##-##AT## wing party basis which is always stirring against him , for Mogherini is considered to be one of their group - albeit one of the more moderate . In opposition to the conservative representatives , Commission President Jean ##AT##-##AT## Claude Juncker and the Pole Donald Tusk , who was named as Council President , were voted in , so the prevailing opinion in Rome , in order to achieve a political balance . For the Chief Diplomat of the EU will also serve as the Deputy to Commission President Juncker . The agreement of the EU ##AT##-##AT## Parliament is considered to be safely secured . If this were not the case , then State President Giorgio Napolitano would hardly have called the nomination of the 41 year ##AT##-##AT## old politician from the ruling Democratic Party ( PD ) " an important recognition " of the role of Italy in the EU . La Repubblica is optimistic that Mogherini , who has held high office over two decades in different governments , and who is known for her ambition , will be able to meet the " enormous challenges " . The woman , who was born in Rome , is married and has two daughters . The qualified doctor of political science began her party career in 1996 in the youth organization of the former Democratici di Sinistra ( left wing democrats ) , which merged with the catholic centre party , Margherita , in 2008 , to form today 's social democratic party ( PD ) . In 1999 Mogherini became Vice President for three years of the European Community Organization of Socialist Youth . The election of 2001 saw her take high office with a place on the council of the Left Wing Democrats , working in the foreign policy department and then becoming its head . She was responsible for traditional cornerstones of Italian foreign policy such as the Middle East ; became known for her preparatory work to the operation of NATO in Afghanistan , in which Italy has a participating contingent ; and she promoted relations with the Social Democrats in Europe and with the Democrats in the USA . Since 2008 she has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies , in which she serves as an expert on Defence and European and International Affairs . When Renzi became Premier in February 2014 , he appointed Mogherini as his Foreign Minister . If the PD today enjoys a better relationship with the strong freedom movement in the country , which contributed to the more than 40 percent votes for the Party in the EU elections , then it was Federica Mogherini who played a leading role in that , as is strongly believed in PD circles . The claims in Brussels that the new EU ##AT##-##AT## Foreign Minister has too little diplomatic experience and therefore lacks clout , is rebutted by the PD . In Brussels , the realistic stance taken by Logherini in the Ukrainian crisis have been attacked and denigrated , particularly by the Polish members and those representing the Baltic States . She is a supporter of Pipeline South Stream , run by the Russian firm Gasprom , through which Russian natural gas is to be transported directly to southern Europe , by ##AT##-##AT## passing Ukraine . This will also make Italy 's own energy secure . After Renzi had assumed his position as EU ##AT##-##AT## Chairman in July , Mogherini embarked on her first state visit to Moscow . Photos showing her shaking hands with Putin were received in Brussels with indignation , as was the fact that she invited the Kremlin chief to an economic summit in Milan in October . A total of nine people began their training course on Monday , at emz ##AT##-##AT## Hanauer in Nabburg . They include a trainee , who had already completed another course in the same company . The new trainee employees will receive training for four future job areas : Electronics engineers ( three trainees ) ; mechatronics engineers or technicians ( two ) ; tool mechanics ( two ) and process engineers ( two ) . All the trainees come from the county of Schwandorf : Tobias Braun and Thomas Bücherl from Schwarzach , Stefan Brickl and Florian Rewitzer from Schmidgaden , Johannes Beer from Neunburg vorm Wald , Felix Domaier from Oberviechtach , Daniel Sorgenfrei and Sebastian Zahner from Pfreimd , as well as Ferdinand Strebl from Teunz . The new trainees had previously attended middle and junior high schools . From Wednesday until Friday , the trainees of all the various ages were going to a Team Building event in Oberammergau , which included among other things an all ##AT##-##AT## day hike and rafting on the Inn River . The company has 435 employees throughout Germany and 950 worldwide . The number of trainees across all age ##AT##-##AT## groups totals 27 . France 's Socialists should ' shut up and sort France out ' , Francois Hollande 's key ally says Mr Valls called on the deeply divided Left to " show its affection " for the embattled Socialist president , whose reshuffle has failed to meet the approval of the vast majority of French . The president deserves everyone 's respect , he deserves our loyality , he deserves our support . " It is our duty to remain at his sides , " he said , to applause . As a placatory gesture , the prime minister insisted his government would not call into question France 's controversial 35 ##AT##-##AT## hour working week , despite inflammatory suggestions it should relax the rules earlier in the week by Emmanuel Macron , the new economy minister . On Saturday , Mr Hollande had implored his fellow Socialists to remain " united " with the government . But Christiane Taubira , the justice minister , put a spanner in the works by turning up to a meeting of rebel Socialist MPs and criticising the Socialist Party for letting the French " lose faith in their future . " Marine Le Pen , the far ##AT##-##AT## Right National Front leader , heaped scorn on the Socialists ' constant in ##AT##-##AT## fighting by saying she did not see the new Valls government lasting more than just a few months . Francois Hollande the Emperor has no clothes , but neither has Prince Manuel Valls , forced to put together a new government when the previous one didn 't even survive the summer . " And the new one won 't survive the fall or the winter either , " Miss Le Pen told supporters . She reiterated her party 's call for a parliamentary dissolution , saying she was confident it could win early elections and stood ready to govern . France 's ruling party suffered a drubbing in March municipal elections and the far ##AT##-##AT## right National Front came out on top in EU elections in May . A poll in Sunday 's Journal du Dimanche found 76 per cent of French believe the Socialist Party risks breaking up into several rival factions before the end of Mr Hollande 's presidential term in 2017 . Pascal Perrineau , a political scientist at Sciences Po university , warned the French would fast lose patience unless the new Socialist government succeeds in improving the economy and record unemployment . " It has a small window of opportunity , but public opinion needs to quickly feel things are changing , " he warned . Otherwise , the situation could further degenerate . Norwegian Cruise nears $ 3 billion Prestige Cruises deal Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCHL.O , the world 's third largest cruise operator , is in advanced talks to acquire peer Prestige Cruises International Inc for around $ 3 billion , according to people familiar with the matter . A deal would give Norwegian Cruise , a company with a market value of $ 6.8 billion , access to Prestige Cruises ' luxury cruise ships and affluent clientele as it competes with bigger rivals Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd ( RCL.N ) and Carnival Corp ( CCL.N ) . An agreement may be announced as early as this week , the sources said on Sunday , cautioning that the talks could still fall apart . The owner of Prestige Cruises , private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC ( APO.N ) , also owns a 20 percent stake in Norwegian Cruise . The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are not public . Norwegian Cruise and Prestige Cruises representatives did not respond to requests for comment , while an Apollo spokesman declined to comment . Miami ##AT##-##AT## based Norwegian Cruise operates 13 cruise ships in routes spanning North America , the Mediterranean , the Baltic , Central America and the Caribbean . It had revenues of $ 2.57 billion in 2013 , up 13 percent from 2012 . Prestige Cruises , also based in Miami , operates under the Oceania and Regent brands , which together have eight cruise ships traveling to Scandinavia , Russia , the Mediterranean , North America , Asia , Africa and South America . It posted revenues of $ 1.2 billion in 2013 , up 6 percent from the year earlier . The $ 29 billion cruise industry is expected to benefit in the coming years from the rise of the middle class in emerging economies such as China and India . Companies are racing to position themselves as the cruise operators of choice for these new customers . Prestige Cruises registered with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering in January 2014 . Apollo has been the company 's majority shareholder following an $ 850 million deal in 2007 . Norwegian Cruise was created in its current form in 2000 through a merger with a cruise operator owned by Genting Bhd ( GENT.KL ) , the leisure and casino conglomerate controlled by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay . Apollo made a $ 1 billion investment in Norwegian Cruise in 2008 . Norwegian Cruise went public in January 2013 . Genting had a 28 percent stake , Apollo had a 20 percent stake and private equity firm TPG Capital LP had an 8 percent stake in the company as of the end of June , according to a regulatory filing . Carnival , Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise together account for 82 percent of the North American cruise passenger berth capacity , according to Prestige Cruises ' initial public offering registration document . Hong Kong pro ##AT##-##AT## democracy activists heckle China official day after vote ruling A group of Beijing loyalists stood nearby waving China 's flag . The NPC Standing Committee on Sunday endorsed a framework to let only two or three candidates run in Hong Kong 's 2017 leadership vote . All candidates must first obtain majority backing from a nominating committee likely to be stacked with Beijing loyalists . The decision makes it almost impossible for opposition democrats to get on the ballot prompted pro ##AT##-##AT## democracy activists to renew their vow to bring Hong Kong 's financial hub to a halt with " Occupy Central " protests . Political reform has been a major source of tension in Hong Kong , with China party leaders fearful of calls for democracy spreading to other cities . Following the publication by Beijing of a white paper outlining China 's authority over Hong Kong in June , democracy activists held an unofficial referendum on voting in the special administrative region , and hundreds of thousands marched to the city 's business district and staged a sit ##AT##-##AT## in . Li 's briefing is being organized by the Hong Kong government and China 's Liaison Office in Hong Kong . The vice chairman of the Standing Committee 's Legislative Affairs Commission , Zhang Rongshun , and the Deputy Director of the State Council 's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office , Feng Wei , were also due to speak in a series of briefings throughout the day . Student activists said they would gather outside of the Hong Kong chief executive 's office in the afternoon . Britain made no mention of democracy for Hong Kong until the dying days of about 150 years of colonial rule . Putin demands Kiev open ' statehood ' talks with eastern Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded Sunday that the Ukrainian government cease battling separatists in the country 's east and immediately begin negotiations on the breakaway region 's " statehood , " according to Russian news accounts of his remarks . His spokesman , Dmitry Peskov , later clarified that Putin didn 't mean to imply that the eastern Ukrainian territory under separatist control would become part of Russia , but that its status within Ukraine had to be revised to give the Russian ##AT##-##AT## speaking region the power to protect its rights and interests . But Putin 's call upon the Kiev government to negotiate with the pro ##AT##-##AT## Russia insurgents as equals corresponded with the apparent strategy he has followed since the violence began five months ago : Help the separatists take territory and force the Ukrainian government to grant the newly proclaimed Novorossiya region virtual independence to align with Russia instead of the West . In an interview with state ##AT##-##AT## run Channel One television , Putin denounced the Ukrainian military campaign to recover separatist ##AT##-##AT## held territory in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions that were seized in March and April , after Moscow annexed Ukraine 's Crimean peninsula on March 18 . The Kremlin and the separatists have lately branded the seized territory " Novorossiya , " or " New Russia , " a term that harkens to pre ##AT##-##AT## revolutionary glory days of the Russian empire . Putin said that anyone who believed peace talks are in the offing as Ukrainian politicians launch campaigns for an Oct. 26 parliamentary election and while government troops are attacking civilian communities in separatist ##AT##-##AT## held regions is " a prisoner to illusions , " Itar ##AT##-##AT## Tass reported . " We must immediately commence substantive talks and not only on technical issues , but also on the political organization of society and the statehood status of southeast Ukraine in order to serve the interests of people living there , " he said . Peskov said Putin 's reference to statehood was meant in the context of the broader autonomy that has been discussed for months with the Kiev leadership as it struggles to allay fears in the Russian ##AT##-##AT## speaking areas that their cultural and linguistic rights are in danger . Only the Ukrainian government can grant the eastern regions the necessary autonomy , Peskov said . It 's not a matter to be negotiated between Ukraine and Russia , Peskov said , " because it 's not a conflict between Russia and Ukraine , but an internal Ukrainian conflict . " The Kremlin spokesman 's intercession to correct the " misinterpretation " of Putin 's remarks underscored the Russian leadership 's approach to dealing with the separatist rebellion in the east differently from its outright seizure of Crimea , where the majority of the 2 million population is ethnic Russian . Moscow would have a much more difficult fight to annex even the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine , as most of the 6.5 million residents are not Russian and pre ##AT##-##AT## conflict polls showed broad support for staying within Ukraine . The autonomy that Russian diplomats have discussed in international forums would grant regional governments in Ukraine the authority to determine their own trade agreements and foreign relations , effectively handing the Kremlin de facto control over territory that would link the Russian mainland with Crimea . The Black Sea peninsula annexed five months ago is home to Russia 's main naval fleet as well as commercial maritime facilities and historic coastal resorts . The regions between Russia 's Rostov area and Crimea are also home to mines , factories and foundries that produce vital components for the Russian military . Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed during his inauguration speech on June 7 that Ukrainian lawmakers - after new elections -- weigh constitutional amendments to give more control to the disparate regions over their finances and the status of languages . But his vision of autonomy appears to differ sharply from that of the Kremlin and the separatist rebels Moscow is accused of arming and instigating . Putin 's latest call on Kiev to deal with the separatist leaders as equals followed new advances by the rebels last week after Russian troops and tanks entered eastern Ukraine from a previously peaceful area along the Sea of Azov . The Russian ##AT##-##AT## backed separatists took control of the town of Novoazovsk in a drive that Ukrainian security officials say they fear is the opening of a campaign to seize the strategic coastal territory all the way to Crimea . That has spurred a massive civilian and military effort to fortify Mariupol , a steelmaking port of 500,000 that lies between Novoazovsk and the narrow gateway into the Crimean peninsula . Poroshenko on Saturday addressed a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels to urge action to prevent further Russian aggression against Ukraine , a former Soviet republic that has been independent for 23 years . " We are close to the point of no return , " Poroshenko warned . Thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine . The EU summit took no definitive action ; the leaders called for drafting more punishing sanctions on Russia to be imposed in the event of an unspecified escalation of the Ukraine crisis . Ukrainian soldiers had to withdraw from their positions in Ilovaysk after two columns of Russian armor and 1,000 troops last week moved into the Donetsk region to bolster the beleaguered separatists , Col. Andriy Lysenko , spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council , told reporters in Kiev on Saturday . The first of a reported 63 Ukrainian soldiers who were trapped in Ilovaysk by the Russian incursion were swapped Sunday for 10 Russian paratroopers captured inside Ukrainian territory a week ago , Lysenko said Sunday . Nude photo scandal embroils Australian celebrities and Gabi Grecko Geoffrey Edelsten has vented his disgust at hackers who may have stolen nude images of fiancee Gabi Grecko and a who 's who of Hollywood A ##AT##-##AT## listers . Tinseltown is reeling after a series of explicit photos showing a nude Jennifer Lawrence hit the internet in a major celebrity hacking scandal . The hacker responsible is said to have 60 nude photos of Hunger Games star Lawrence and superstars including models Kate Upton and Cara Delevingne , singers Rihanna , Ariana Grande and Lea Michelle and actors Kirsten Dunst . Australian actors Teresa Palmer , Emily Browning , Yvonne Strahovski , and Melbourne ##AT##-##AT## based Grecko also had personal pictures allegedly retrieved due to an iCloud leak . There are 101 celebrity names on the list . Edelsten , who proposed to Grecko last month , told Confidential : " It 's disgusting " . All private correspondence and images should remain private . It 's disgraceful that personal information can be stolen and dispersed to others . Grecko , who is in New York , reportedly told a news website the hacking was " shameful " and those targeted would " feel violated . " The hacker is believed to have 30 images of Palmer with ex ##AT##-##AT## boyfriend Scott Speedman , including two frames where she is lounging topless in a pool . Palmer 's film credits include Love And Honor , opposite Liam Hemsworth . Palmer , Chuck star Strahovski and Sucker Punch actress Browning yesterday had no comment on the hacked pictures . A representative for Lawrence told TMZ : " This is a flagrant violation of privacy . " Actor Seth Rogen lashed out at the hacker , tweeting : " Posting pics hacked from a cell phone is really no different than selling stolen merchandise . " Just legally speaking , it shouldn 't be tolerated to report stolen pics . Cyclists , joggers and walkers took part yesterday in the 8th Cycling Event on the Grosser Feldberg mountain , giving their support to ' Help for Children with Cancer ' . The Tour was a hard grind for some , while others treated it as a light training session . However , everyone agreed on one thing : It was a lot of fun . Thomas Studanski must have slept well last night . For the very first time in his life the head of the Oberursel Brewery took his bike up the Feldberg . And for a good cause . He can put up with a little muscle stiffness , especially since his participation in the 8th Cycling Event on the Grosser Felberg was in aid of the ' Help for children with cancer ' association , and gave him a valuable personal insight . A great thing . " I now know that I can do it - brilliant ! " You didn 't happen to have a little break to milk the applause ? No , if I 'd stopped , I 'd never have been able to carry on ... Like Thomas Studanski , a member for the CDU in the Oberursel town council , many of the 718 participants struggled in the early mountain dew , coming close to exhaustion , but arriving happily on top of the summit plateau . On the other hand , some others found it much easier to complete the full eleven kilometre route between Hohemark and Feldberg . Norman Diessner , for example . The Green Politician , wearing all red , from the municipal council - red clothes , red bike - looked to be taking it gently ( " Quit some professionals here , so it 's all about finishing ! " ) - and then looked almost like a pro himself as he arrived at the end 45 minutes later without pausing for breath . He was another one who did it all in one go , as did Nina Kuhn , press spokesperson for the Oberursel Council , who did the route along side Frank Grüneisen . For both the triathletes the " Feldberg Cycling Event " was not necessarily a sporting challenge : " This one is about charity , and that 's why we 're glad to be here - we 'd have gone out riding anyway today , " Kuhn said . Along the route they met up with Paul Wenzel from Oberreifenberg . The boy ( 12 ) had driven down to Oberusel in the morning , only to immediately go back up again . Florian Zierz from Frankfurt got himself into the saddle at 9 am ; he " did " the Feldberg twice , before then wheeling back home . Another one who enjoyed himself was " Fritten ##AT##-##AT## Toni " . For the manager of the Oberursel cult kiosk , taking part in cycling events which go over the Feldberg is perfectly natural . He took just 40 minutes to do the route with his 6.5 ##AT##-##AT## kilo racing bike . A mad event . For this cause I 'm very glad to be here , " commented Andreas Balzke . The well ##AT##-##AT## conditioned man from Mainz said he was an " ambitious racing cyclist . " And he must be , since he was riding a " Fixie ##AT##-##AT## Bike " which is a bike without gears ... But it wasn 't only cyclists who jaunted to the top - as was evidenced not only by the 20 walkers , who climbed up via the White Wall and the Fuchstanz , but also by a jogger who pulled behind him a tyre with weights attached to him by a rope . Mountain Rescue doctor , Professor Volker Lischke , who was there with his team to provide safety , and who was equipped with a four ##AT##-##AT## wheel Bully and Quad , said : " I know him from Frankfurt - he trains for a specialist sleigh trail - it 's just that he pulls the sleigh himself . " The man is , therefore , in a sense his own sleigh dog . The 718 participants - which made them the greatest number ever - were sent off up the course in groups in the morning . The walkers started at 9.30 am . Then it was the turn of the cyclists and runners , who began at 10 am . Five minutes later the first Mountain ##AT##-##AT## bikers set off . Bent Hansen , Chairman of the Association ' Cycling on the Grosser Feldberg ' gave the starting orders and wished those taking part an enjoyable trip . Next year , he hopes to have safety barriers on the course for the benefit of those taking part on the Feldberg .