Doug Ford defends group home comments

TORONTO - The city councillor brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford did not back down Sunday from comments about a home for developmentally disabled youth in his ward, saying it is a "nightmare" for the neighbourhood.

Coun. Doug Ford told TV station CP24 that his "heart goes out" to families with autistic children, but he said this issue is about kids in the residential home who have "violent tendencies."

Doug Ford's Griffin Centre Comment Sparks Online Backlash

TORONTO - The brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is being chastised on social media for reportedly saying a residential home for developmentally disabled youth has "ruined" a neighbourhood.

Coun. Doug Ford's comments have triggered an angry response on Twitter, with people including former Ontario premier Bob Rae blasting the Toronto city councillor.

Canada's Real Estate Market Is 'Fraying': Report

Canada's real estate market may look healthy, but it's showing signs of fraying in certain regions and prices could fall by 25 per cent in the long term.

So says a report by Capital Economics, a consulting firm that is holding fast to an ominous prediction it made for home prices in 2012 and 2013.

Economist David Madani says that the market is "surviving for the time being on rapidly rising prices" in overvalued and thinly-traded markets, but regional sales indicate that it's unraveling.

Advocates Say Female Genital Mutilation Is On Rise In U.S., Call On Government To Act

Available reports make it seem as though the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is happening only in far-off places -- like rural parts of Africa and the Middle East. But the brutal tradition is actually growing right here in America, and advocates are pushing for more updated research to prove it.

The U.S. officially banned FGM -- procedures that involve partial or total removal of female genitalia or damage to other female organs for non-medical reasons -- back in 1996. But advocates say that the U.S. has been lagging in implementing those laws and in keeping accurate FGM records.

NET NEUTRALITY AND THE IDEA OF AMERICA

Yesterday’s open meeting on net neutrality in Washington, D.C., was in every way a public spectacle. Outside of the offices of the Federal Communications Commission, protesters—some of who had been camping out for days—beat drums, waved signs, and chanted slogans. The press corps was in full attendance, bringing a mess of tripods and telescopic lenses. At the hearing itself, F.C.C. commissioner Mignon Clyburn told a story about her mother, while chairman Tom Wheeler, his jaw firm, drew lines in the sand. “I will not allow the asset of the open Internet to be compromised,” he said emphatically. His proposal to consider* a rule passed on a 3-2 vote and was immediately criticized by all sides. Net neutrality has undoubtedly captured national attention.

The One Thing You Need To Understand About Net Neutrality

The fight to save the Internet as we know it hangs on what seems like a technicality: Should Internet service providers (ISPs) be treated more like telephone companies or like email providers? The policy wonk term for this issue is "reclassification."

You might think it doesn't matter, but it actually makes a huge difference. The question of how ISPs should be classified lies at the heart of the current debate over net neutrality, or the idea that all web traffic should be treated equally. If the web were legally regulated as if it were a phone company, it would be easier for the government to enforce net neutrality. Consumer advocates are pushing the Federal Communications Commission in that direction.

Joe Biden Cautions China In Its Dispute With Vietnam

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is conveying America's objections about China's behavior in a territorial dispute with Vietnam to the top brass of the Chinese military.

Biden met Thursday with Fang Fenghui, the military's general chief of staff. The White House says Biden told Fang the U.S. was seriously concerned about China's unilateral actions.

Biden told Fang the U.S. doesn't take a side in the territorial confrontation between the two countries over an area in the South China Sea. That's where China has triggered protests in Vietnam by deploying an oil rig in the long-disputed seas. One person has been killed, a Chinese worker in Vietnam.

But Biden says no nation should take provocative steps in the conflict that undermine stability and peace.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author:  AP  | by  By JOSH LEDERMAN

Some Countries Spend More On Domestic Violence Costs Than On Primary Education: Report

A report out this week from the World Bank Group examined some of the challenges facing women around the world and uncovered some unequivocally devastating finds. As shown in the map below, a significant share of women, especially in Africa and South Asia, have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime.

China’s state-run newspaper backs ‘non-peaceful’ steps against Vietnam

The state-run Global Times newspaper backed the use of “non-peaceful” measures against Vietnam and the Philippines on Friday, as it considered the possibility of war over territorial disputes in the strategically vital South China Sea.

“The South China Sea disputes should be settled in a peaceful manner, but that doesn’t mean China can’t resort to non-peaceful measures in the face of provocation from Vietnam and the Philippines,” the newspaper, which often takes a nationalistic tone, wrote in an editorial.

Thousands Of Chinese Evacuated From Vietnam Amid Violence

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese authorities forcibly broke up small protests against China in two cities on Sunday, after deadly anti-China rampages over a flaring territorial dispute risked damaging the economy and spooked a state used to keeping a tight grip on its people.

In southern Ho Chi Minh City, police dragged away several demonstrators from a park in the city center. In Hanoi, authorities closed off streets and a park close to the Chinese Embassy and pushed journalists and protesters away. Police were posted outside well-known dissidents houses, preventing them from leaving, according to activists.