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During an interview with CNBC, retailer's CEO defends four-day delay in notifying customers of security breach as necessary for the investigation and preparation for consumer reaction.

 Hackers infected Target's point-of-sale terminals with malware to steal the payment card information from millions of customers, the retailer's chief executive has confirmed.

 The security breach, which yielded the personal information of as many as 110 million customers, was first identified on December 15, four days before the breach was publicly revealed, CEO Gregg Steinhafel told CNBC during an interview. Target revealed Friday that the security breach it suffered between November 27 and December 15 was larger than originally believed, yielding the names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses for near three times its original estimate of 40 million customers.

 "Sunday [December 15] was really Day 1. That was the day we confirmed we had an issue and so our number one priority was ... making our environment safe and secure," Steinhafel said in the interview. "By six o'clock at night, our environment was safe and secure. We eliminated the malware in the access point, we were very confident that coming into Monday guests could come to Target and shop with confidence and no risk."

 Steinhafel defended the four-day delay in its notification process as necessary for investigators and consumer preparation.

 "Day 2 was really about initiating the investigation work and the forensic work ... that has been ongoing. Day 3 was about preparation. We wanted to make sure our stores and our call centers could be as prepared as possible, and Day 4 was about notification," he told CNBC in an interview scheduled to air Monday.

 Target was not the only US retailer to suffer a security breach during the holiday shopping season. Upscale department store Neiman Marcus confirmed on Friday that its database of customer information was hacked last month around the same time as the attack on Target. Additionally, Reuters reports that at least three other well-known but unidentified retailers experienced smaller breaches that have yet to be publicly revealed.

 The practice of payment card skimming at point-of-sale terminals has become more frequent in recent years, often victimizing customers of well-known retailers. Bookseller Barnes & Noble discovered in fall 2012 that hackers had broken into keypads at more than 60 locations around the United States and made off with customers' credit card information. That same month, two Romanian men pled guilty to hacking point-of-sale terminals at hundreds of Subway sandwich stores in the US to steal credit card data from more than 146,000 accounts. ||||| Since Target's original announcement that up to 40 million customer credit and debit card accounts had been hacked, critics have questioned why it took the retailer four days to come clean on the data breach.

 Now, for the first time since the security breach was announced on Dec. 19, Target Chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel is speaking out. While four days may seem like a long time for consumers to learn their sensitive account information was at risk, Steinhafel argued that it was lightning speed from Target's perspective.

 He laid out what happened from the moment he knew there was a problem.

 (Read more: 'I'm still shaken' by Target data breach, says CEO)

 "Sunday (Dec. 15) was really day one. That was the day we confirmed we had an issue and so our number one priority was ... making our environment safe and secure. By six o'clock at night, our environment was safe and secure. We eliminated the malware in the access point, we were very confident that coming into Monday guests could come to Target and shop with confidence and no risk," Steinhafel said.

 "Day two was really about initiating the investigation work and the forensic work ... that has been ongoing. Day three was about preparation. We wanted to make sure our stores and our call centers could be as prepared as possible, and day four was about notification," he added. (The full interview will air on CNBC's Squawk Box Monday.) ||||| BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp began a major public relations effort on Monday to apologize to customers for an unprecedented cyber attack on its network, but the No. 3 U.S. retailer was vague in providing details about what it knew and when.

 The company has so far disclosed that the breach started in late November and lasted 19 days over the peak holiday shopping season, resulting in the theft of about 40 million credit card records and 70 million other records containing customer data.

 Target is trying to woo back customers after sales dropped off at the end of the holiday season. Its campaign included full-page newspaper advertisements on Monday apologizing for the attack and the first interview since the breach by chief executive Gregg Steinhafel.

 He told CNBC TV business network that Target wanted to lead the retail industry’s move to adopt payment card technology that stores customer information on computer chips and requires users to type in personal identification numbers.

 On Sunday, a top executive with the National Retail Federation called for tougher security standards that could mean more spending for the industry, its banks and business partners following the breaches at Target and other retailers in the United States.

 Steinhafel said he was proud of the way Target employees had responded once the breach was confirmed, yet he provided few details about what had happened.

 Target disclosed on December 19 that it was victim to one of the biggest credit card breaches on record. It said it ran for 19 days in the busy holiday shopping season through December 15.

 “We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Steinhafel told CNBC. “We’re not going to rest until we understand what happened and how that happened.”

 The company declined to say precisely when it first came to suspect its systems might have been compromised.

 Related Coverage Changing card PIN only first step after Target breach: experts

 In the CNBC interview, Steinhafel said the company “confirmed” that it had been victim of a breach on December 15, but he provided no account of what happened in preceding weeks.

 “December 15. That was the day we confirmed that we had an issue,” he said.

 Sources familiar with the investigation have previously told Reuters that Target learned about the attack only after receiving warnings from financial industry sources who reported seeing a surge in fraudulent credit card activity from accounts of customers who had shopped at the retailer.

 Another retailer, Neiman Marcus, disclosed on Friday that it was warned about a possible breach in mid-December and that an outside forensics firm confirmed a breach on January 1, saying it found evidence that some payment card data may have been compromised.

 Target and Neiman Marcus are not the only U.S. retailers whose networks were breached over the holidays, according to sources familiar with attacks on other merchants that have yet to be publicly disclosed.

 Smaller breaches at least three other well-known U.S. retailers took place over the holiday season and were conducted using similar techniques as the one on Target, according to the people familiar with the attacks. Similar breaches may have occurred earlier last year.

 Stores and card processing companies have reported a steady stream of security breaches for years without a major backlash from consumers, such as those disclosed by TJX Cos in 2007 and by Heartland Payment Systems Inc in 2009.

 But the latest thefts could mark a watershed moment for security standards as calls grow for changes in the protection of consumer information.

 ‘CHIP-AND-PIN’ CARDS

 People shop at a Target store during Black Friday sales in the Brooklyn borough of New York, in this November 29, 2013, file photo. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/Files

 One sign of the change is the new enthusiasm for “Chip-and-PIN” payment cards, which have computer chips built into them and require users to type in PINs.

 Mallory Duncan, general counsel of the National Retail Federation that represents Target, Wal-Mart and other stores, said on Sunday that the trade group encouraged its members to upgrade to the higher-security cards even though they cost more than old systems that store data on magnetic stripes.

 The breaches are “unfortunate but we’re not entirely surprised,” Duncan said at his organization’s annual convention in New York.

 “The technology that exists in cards out there is 20th-century technology and we’ve got 21st-century hackers,” he said.

 Duncan said the trade group had only made its backing for the higher-security cards public since the Target breach. Banks have quietly begun to offer the cards but mainly for customers to use while traveling. Big U.S. card networks led by Visa Inc will not require the higher security until next year at the earliest.

 It is not clear that “Chip-and-PIN” technology would have prevented the breaches at Target and elsewhere. At the very least they make stolen data harder to re-use, a reason the technology has caught on widely in Europe and Asia.

 They have met with much less enthusiasm in the United States, in part because losses to fraud - just 5 cents for every $100 spent via plastic - have been manageable for merchants and their banks. But rising fraud rates, and the risk of identity theft, could change the calculation.

 The new scrutiny began after Target disclosed its breach. Investigators believe hackers used malware that captured data on customers from the magnetic stripes on their payment cards.

 Duncan said no other members had told the NRF they had been breached.

 Executives of several other companies said over the weekend that they were not aware of breaches at their companies. The executives included representatives of Sears Holdings Corp, JCPenney Co, Macy’s Inc and Gap Inc.

 A shopper enters a Neiman Marcus store in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in this May 2, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/John Gress/Files

 Still, the breach was the talk of the retail conference with 29,000 attendees. Several speakers cited it in remarks and some tried to distance their companies from vulnerabilities.

 Stan Lippelman, vice president of marketing at Bass Pro Shops, a privately-held outdoor goods seller, said: “We feel very comfortable with where we are at. But...the fact that it happens to Target means it can happen to anybody, right?” |||||
What is a summary?

– Victims of the Target hack were hit as they slid their payment cards through point-of-sale terminals, says the company's CEO: That's where hackers placed their malware, Gregg Steinhafel tells CNBC. On Sunday, Dec. 15, the company recognized "we had an issue," and "by six o'clock at night, our environment was safe and secure. We eliminated the malware in the access point." Steinhafel explained why it still took a few days to alert customers, CNET reports: "Day two was really about initiating the investigation work and the forensic work," while "day three was about preparation" of stores and call centers. After Neiman Marcus revealed that it, too, was hit with a data breach, Reuters reports that three other top US retailers were also victimized, though on a smaller scale. Insiders say the people behind the scam may have been the same ones who hit Target. Details remain hazy, but Reuters' sources say the other retailers had mall outlets. Earlier attacks may have worked as trials ahead of the Target hack, notes a security expert. One technique hackers may have used is called RAM scraping, during which hackers collect encrypted data when it's in plain-text form in a computer's memory.


– The presidential candidates took a break from the campaign to poke fun at themselves and each other last night during the annual Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in Manhattan. Some highlights, from the New York Times and Washington Post: Romney: "As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everybody in white tie and finery you have to wonder what he’s thinking: ‘So little time, so much to redistribute.’” Obama: "Earlier today, I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Governor Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown." On themselves: Obama: "Some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well rested after the nice long nap I had in the first debate.” Romney, commenting on the fancy dress code: "It’s nice to finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house.” Odds and ends: Obama asked everyone to “please take their seats. Otherwise Clint Eastwood will yell at them.” Romney tweaked the press, saying he had seen early reports from the dinner. "Headline: ‘Obama Embraced by Catholics, Romney Dines with Rich People.’” On the VP: Obama: "I've heard some people say, 'Barack, you're not as young as you used to be. Where’s that golden smile? Where’s that pep in your step?' And I say, 'Settle down, Joe, I'm trying to run a Cabinet meeting.'" Romney: "I was actually hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along this evening because he will laugh at anything.” See The Week for more highlights.

Expand this summary.

President Obama and Mitt Romney share a laugh at the 67th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Mario Tama/Getty Images

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 resident Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney set aside their hard-hitting presidential race for a few hours on Thursday night to break bread at the 67th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner, a white-tie charity fundraiser thrown by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. "It's traditional for both major party candidates to attend the benefit, perform a short stand-up routine, then pretend it isn't awkward to have dinner together during the most heated time in the campaign," says Margaret Hartmann at New York. Both candidates landed some good punchlines, poking fun at each other, themselves, and (of course) Vice President Joe Biden. (Watch some highlights below.) Here are some of their best one-liners:

 Introductions:

 Romney: "Usually when I get invited to gatherings like this, it's to be the designated driver."

 Obama: "Everyone please take your seats. Otherwise Clint Eastwood will yell at them."

 The debates:

 Obama: "This is the third time that Governor Romney and I have met recently. Some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well-rested after the nice long nap I had in the first debate."

 Romney: "People seem to be very curious just as to how we prepare for the debates. Let me tell you what I do. First, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. Second, find the biggest available straw man and then just mercilessly attack it: Big Bird didn't even see it coming."

 Obama: "I learned there are worse things that can happen to you on your anniversary than forgetting to buy a gift."

 Romney's wealth:

 Obama: "Earlier today I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Gov. Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown."

 Romney (in white-tie attire): "A campaign can require a lot of wardrobe changes — blue jeans in the morning perhaps, suits for lunch fundraisers, a sport coat for dinner. But it's nice to finally relax and to wear what Ann and I wear around the house."

 Running mates:

 Romney: "I was actually hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along this evening, because he'll laugh at anything."

 Obama: "I've heard some people say, 'Barack, you're not as young as you used to be. Where's that golden smile? Where's that pep in your step?' And I say, 'Settle down, Joe, I'm trying to run a cabinet meeting.'"

 Romney: "Campaigns can be grueling, exhausting. President Obama and I are each very lucky to have one person who is always in our corner, someone who we can lean on, and someone who is a comforting presence, without whom we wouldn't be able to go another day. I have my beautiful wife, Ann; he has Bill Clinton."

 Obama: "Sometimes it feels like this race has dragged on forever, but Paul Ryan assured me that we've only been running for two hours and fifty-something minutes."

 Miscellaneous:

 Romney: "I've already seen early reports from tonight's dinner — headline: 'Obama Embraced by Catholics. Romney Dines With Rich People.'"

 Obama: "Of course, world affairs are a challenge for every candidate. After all, some of you guys remember after my foreign trip in 2008 I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas. And I have to say, I'm impressed with how well Gov. Romney has avoided that problem."

 Romney: "As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and refinery, you have to wonder what he's thinking. 'So little time, so much to redistribute.'"

 Sources: AP, Capital New York, Government Executive (2), The Los Angeles Times, MSN Now (2), NBC News, New York, Reuters, The Washington Post

 Read more political coverage at The Week's 2012 Election Center. ||||| NEW YORK — Two nights after one of the most contentious debates in modern presidential history, President Obama and Mitt Romney put aside their political differences on Thursday night to trade jokes and playfully roast each other.

 Dressed in white tie at a glittering dinner in midtown Manhattan, the two men delivered speeches at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York’s annual charity benefit that every four years hosts the presidential candidates for a lighthearted break from the grueling campaign.“This is the third time that Governor Romney and I have met recently,” Obama said. “Some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well rested after the nice long nap I had in the first debate.”

 Romney, sitting with his wife Ann a couple seats down on the dais at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, laughed. “It’s taken New York’s highest spiritual authority to get us back on our best behavior,” Romney quipped.

 The Republican nominee began his roast by making light of his stiff persona.

 “A campaign can require a lot of wardrobe changes — blue jeans in the morning, perhaps, suits for a lunch fundraiser, sport coat for dinner — but it’s nice to finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house,” Romney said.

 And he singled out New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also seated at the dais, with a joking reference to his own political resume. Cuomo, he said, is “already being talked about for higher office. A very impressive fellow, but he may be getting a little ahead of himself. I mean, let me get this straight: The man has put in one term as a governor, he has a father who happened to be a governor and he thinks that’s enough to run for president?”

 But Romney seemed to aim more of his humor at the president than at himself. “Of course, we’re down to the final months of the president’s term. As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everybody in white tie and finery you have to wonder what he’s thinking: ‘So little time, so much to redistribute.’”

 Romney added that he and Obama are both “very lucky to have one person who’s always in our corner, someone who we can lean on and someone who is a comforting presence without whom we wouldn’t be able to go another day. I have my beautiful wife, Ann; he has Bill Clinton.”

 And Romney took a shot at the press, joking that he had “already seen early reports from tonight’s dinner. Headline: ‘Obama Embraced by Catholics, Romney Dines with Rich People.’”

 Obama, following Romney at the podium, began his roast by asking everyone to “please take their seats. Otherwise Clint Eastwood will yell at them.”

 The president twice made light of his performance in the first debate on Oct. 3, which was also his and Michelle’s wedding anniversary. “There are worse things that can happen to you on your anniversary than forgetting to buy a gift,” Obama quipped.

 But he offered a preview of the third debate. “Monday’s debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy,” Obama said. “Spoiler alert: We got Bin Laden.”

 Noting that “Mitt” is actually Romney’s middle name, Obama said, “I wish I could use my middle name.” (The president’s middle name is Hussein.)

 Obama took some shots at his rival, too, saying, “Earlier today I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Governor Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown.”

 And the president made light of Romney’s tumultuous overseas trip this summer, in which the Republican angered the British people by questioning London’s readiness to host the Olympics.

 “Of course, world affairs are a challenge for every candidate,” Obama said. “After my foreign trip in 2008, I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas. And I have to say, I’m impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem.” At that, Obama looked over to make eye contact with Romney and the two laughed.

 Both candidates used Vice President Biden as a punching bag. Obama remarked how much had changed since he first addressed this dinner in 2008. “I’ve heard some people say, ‘Barack, you’re not as young as you used to be. Where’s that golden smile? Where’s that pep in your step?’ And I say, ‘Settle down, Joe, I’m trying to run a cabinet meeting.’”

 Al Smith IV, the great-grandson of the dinner’s namesake, who was a former New York governor and the first Catholic nominated for president, shared some jokes of his own while introducing Obama and Romney. Acknowledging the women in the room, Smith referenced Romney’s controversial remark in Tuesday night’s debate by saying, “It’s good to see who’s getting out of those binders.”

 Later, Smith congratulated Romney for giving more than 10 percent of his income to charity. But, he joked, “the charity is the federal government.”

 He took a shot at Obama, too. “We recognize that you have some challenges this year. It’s never good when your opponent has produced more sons than you have jobs.”

 Smith also poked fun at Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and a man of considerable girth, who sat between the two candidates. He joked that they were separated by a “vast expanse.” ||||| President Obama and Mitt Romney finally found something they could agree on during Thursday night’s 67th annual Al Smith white-tie charity dinner: Jokes about Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. get big laughs.

 “I’ve heard some people say, ‘Barack, you’re not as young as you used to be. Where’s that golden smile? Where’s that pep in your step?’ ” Mr. Obama said. “And I say, ‘Settle down, Joe. I’m trying to run a cabinet meeting here.’ ”

 Speaking of Mr. Biden’s animated debate performance, Mr. Romney said: “I heard from the Federal Election Commission: From now on, whenever he appears on TV, there’s a recording of me afterward that says, ‘I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message.’ ” He added, “I was actually hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along this evening because he will laugh at anything.”

 In a campaign notable for the contempt in which Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama at times seem to hold each other, the dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria to benefit Catholic charities — one of the quadrennial proving grounds on the road to the White House — also lived up to its other billing: a respite, however brief, from a campaign that has grown nastier as it has grown closer, illustrated just a few nights ago during a heated, in-your-face debate at Hofstra University.

 The equally skillful performances on Thursday night of Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney almost seemed jarring for how civil and self-deprecating each could be in the other’s presence — even as they lacerated their rivals’ campaign missteps. “We were chatting pleasantly this evening as if Tuesday night never happened,” Mr. Romney said.

 Mr. Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, began his speech by saying that, “It’s nice to finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house.”

 Noting the large and wealthy audience before them, he said of Mr. Obama: “You have to wonder what he is thinking — so little time, so much to redistribute.” And he took a poke at Mr. Obama’s “you didn’t build that” statement, saying the apostle St. Peter had “so many skeptics and scoffers at the time who were heard to say, ‘If you got a church, you didn’t build that.’ ”

 Mr. Romney also shared his secrets for debate preparation: “First, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. Second, find the biggest available straw man, and then just mercilessly attack him. Big Bird didn’t even see it coming.” And he joked that while he leans on his wife for comfort and support, he said Mr. Obama “has Bill Clinton.”

 Mr. Romney also took his swipes at the news media. “My job is to lay out a positive vision for the future of the country, and their job is to make sure no one else finds out about it,” he said. And anticipating the coverage of the dinner, he joked that tomorrow’s headlines would read, “Obama Embraced by Catholics; Romney Dines With Rich People.”

 Both men got a lot of laughs. Mr. Obama got his first while the audience was still giving him a standing ovation: “Everyone please take your seats, otherwise Clint Eastwood will yell at them.”

 He was quick to make light of his poor performance in the first debate. “As some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well-rested after the nice long nap I had in the first debate.” He added, “I learned that there are worse things that can happen to you on your anniversary than forgetting to buy a gift.”

 Mr. Obama noted that he and Mr. Romney spent their free time before the dinner in somewhat different pursuits. “Earlier today, I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Governor Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown.”

 And he came prepared with his own retort to Mr. Romney’s “build that” joke, reminiscing about how he used to “love to go to old Yankee Stadium, the house that Ruth built — although he really did not build that.”

 The president took a swipe at Mr. Romney’s running mate, whose claim to have run a sub-three-hour marathon was later proven to be more than an hour too generous. “Sometimes it feels like this race has dragged on forever,” Mr. Obama said, “but Paul Ryan assured me that we’ve only been running for 2 hours and 50-something minutes.”

 Mr. Obama said that while he and Mr. Romney both have unusual names, Mr. Romney, whose full name is Willard Mitt Romney, goes by his middle name. The president — whose full name is Barack Hussein Obama — joked, “I wish I could use my middle name.”

 He also mocked Mr. Romney’s turbulent foreign trip, contrasting it with his own overseas trip in 2008, after which he said he was “attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas.”

 “I have to say I am impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem,” he said. |||||


Plenty of churches contain relics of saints, but not many of those relics were found in excavations from sixth-century churches.

 Archaeologists at a medieval fortress site in Burgas, Bulgaria, found a lead vessel, which contains some of the ashes from the alleged grave of John the Apostle, in a reliquary that dates to the sixth century C.E. The reliquary, which was once part of an early Christian basilica, is named for Saint John the Theologian, who is considered one of Jesus' apostles. The vessel, which is less than an inch long, is decorated with crosses.

 Milen Nikolov, director of the Burgas Regional Museum of History, said that early Christians would have believed the relic had healing properties. John the Apostle's grave in Turkey was also a pilgrimage site for early Christians seeking healing, Ancient Origins reports. Nikolov said the reliquary was "one of the most important discoveries" in the museum's history.

 In addition to the relic, the archaeologists also uncovered a 10th century Bulgarian royal seal at the fortress site. Meghan DeMaria ||||| Ashes from the grave of John the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, have been discovered in a lead tube reliquary by Bulgarian archaeologists during excavations of the ancient and medieval port of Burgos (also known as Poros) on Cape Foros in today’s Black Sea city of Burgas.

 The discovery of the lead tube containing ashes from the grave of John the Apostle, who is known as St. John the Theologian in Bulgarian (Eastern) Orthodox Christianity, located in the ancient city of Ephesus in Anatolia, today’s Turkey, has been made during the 2014 excavations of the fortress of Burgos (or Poros) on Cape Foros in Burgas but was announced only on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, by Milen Nikolov, Director of the Burgas Regional Museum of History, at a special press conference.

 He has also announced other intriguing finds such as the discovery of a Late Antiquity latrine, also found at Burgos (Poros), and the discovery of a 10th century Bulgarian royal seal from the Rusocastro Fortress.

 The structures at the ancient and medieval fortress and port of Burgos (Poros) which were excavated in 2014 include an Early Christian basilica from the 6th century AD, a building complex from the 5th-6th century AD, and a Roman villa from the 3rd century AD. The John the Apostle reliquary was found in the 6th century basilica.

 “Probably a pilgrim from the Foros Peninsula (Cape) went on a pilgrimage to Ephesus, and came back here with this relic which was then donated to the basilica on Foros,” Nikolov has explained, as cited by local news site Gramofona.

 Nikolov has described the finding of the reliquary as “one of the most important discoveries in the history of the [Burgas Regional History] Museum”, and the lead tube as a “holy possession that preserved a holy substance” having to do with the beliefs that every year on May 8, the date of John the Apostle’s death, there is manna, a holy curing powder, on the site of his grave.

 The lead tube reliquary itself containing the ashes from the grave of John the Apostle (St. John the Theologian) is really tiny: it is only 2.2 cm (less than an inch) long, and its diameter measures 1.7 cm.

 The reliquary is dated to the 6th century AD when pilgrimage to the Holy Lands was very common among Christians, Nikolov explains. On one of its sides there is an image of a cross with equal arms inside a medallion, and on the opposite side there is an image of two overlapping crosses with equal arms. The neck of the tube is also decorated with crosses. It has only one handle left, the other has broken off.

 In addition to the so called Empty Tomb, i.e. the Tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, the other centers of Christian pilgrimage in the 6th century AD included the grave of St. Menas in Abu Mina in Egypt; the grave of St. Simeon Stylites the Elder in Antioch (in today’s Turkey); the grave of St. Thecla (or Tecla) in Seleucia, Mesopotamia; the grave of St. Isidore of Chios on the Aegean island of Chios; and the graves of John the Apostle (St. John the Theologian), St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Timothy in Ephesus.

 All of these Early Christian pilgrimage centers produced primarily clay tubes for holy water; a total of only 43 lead tubes from this time period are known in the entire world, the Bulgarian archaeologists from the Burgas Museum point out.

 They explaining 20 of those known lead tubes have been found in the St. John the Baptist Basilica in Monza, Italy (the Monza Cathedral); they were a gift from Lombard Queen Theodelinda (c. 570-628) made at the beginning of the 6th century.

 Another 16 lead tubes have been found in a grave in the Bobbio Abbey (a monastery founded by Irish Saint Columbanus in 614 AD) in the Italian town of Bobbio, close to Milan.

 One lead tube reliquary has been discovered in the Sant Pere de Casserres Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the town of Les Masies de Roda, Osona comarca, Catalonia, Spain.

 In addition to these lead tube reliquaries, three others are kept in Germany and four in the USA, all of which were produced in Jerusalem and have depictions of Gospel scenes.

 Even though the reliquary discovered by the Bulgarian archaeologists in the basilica in the ancient and medieval fortress Burgos (Poros) on Cape Foros is also a lead tube, it is different from the other known lead tube reliquaries because the images on it are identical with the images from a group of clay tube reliquaries produced in ancient Ephesus.

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 “That is why at this stage we believe that the Burgas reliquary comes from this pilgrimage center (i.e. Ephesus) and it must be connected with the cult for St. John the Theologian (John the Apostle),” the head of the Burgas Museum of History, Milen Nikolov, explains.

 He also notes that John the Apostle was particularly cherished by the Early Christians. According to the Bible, John was Jesus Christ’s favorite disciple, and when Jesus was crucified he asked John to take care of the Holy Mother, Virgin Mary.

 Later, John the Apostle settled in the ancient city of Ephesus together with Virgin Mary and St. Mary Magdalene. This is where he wrote the Book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse, and lived till the rest of his life.

 According to some historical sources, Christian pilgrims from around the world would gather on his grave in the Ephesus basilica on May 8, the date of his death. They would sprinkle rose petals on the rock above the basilica, and the next day wonder-working powder would appear on the rock. This manna could cure all kinds of diseases, which is why it was collected by the pilgrims in reliquaries and taken to their places of origin as evidence of their pilgrimage or as an apotropeus (an apotropaic item, i.e. an amulet chasing away evil).

 Some scholars believe the manna collected by the pilgrims came from the pollen from the roses they placed on John the Apostle’s grave in Ephesus.

 “That is why, at this point, we believe that a pilgrim from the fortress of Poros went on a pilgrimage to the grave of St. John the Theologian in Ephesus from where he brought the valuable reliquary with curing powder,” Nikolov elaborates.

 The discovery of the lead tube reliquary with ashes from the grave of John the Apostle in Ephesus near Burgas resembles another relic discovery from the same region, Bulgaria’s Southern Black Sea coast.

 Back in 2010 during excavations of an ancient monastery on the St. Ivan (St. John) Island in the Black Sea, off the coast of Bulgaria’s Sozopol, just to the north of Burgas (and the ancient and medieval port of Burgos (Poros) on Cape Foros), Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov discovered a reliquary containing relics of St. John the Baptist. The relics of St. John the Baptist, which consist of small bone particles from a skull, jaw bone, arm bone, and tooth, have received lots of international interest in the years since then, and in February 2015 CNN reported that Oxford University scholars had confirmed the possibility of their authenticity by concluding that they belonged to a man who lived in the Middle East at the same time as Jesus Christ.

 Background Infonotes:

 The ancient and medieval fortress and port of Burgos (Poros) is located on the Cape of Foros in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas. It was first first excavated in 2008 by archaeologists Milen Nikolov (currently Director of the Burgas Regional Museum of History), Dr. Tsonya Drazheva, and Konstantin Gospodinov, after access to its site was denied for decades because of the existence of a nearby military base which has been closed down in recent years. Part of its fortress wall was first discovered in 1989 during the construction of a cow farm. Even though there have been traces of ancient life, the fortress and port city of Burgos (Poros) on the Cape of Foros in Bulgaria’s Burgas is dated back to the Late Antiquity / Late Roman period, with the Bulgarian archaeologists uncovering a large number of buildings, artifacts, and pottery vessels dating back to the 4th-6th century AD. Their excavations have revealed a complex set of fortifications, including walls, ramparts, and towers, which were rebuilt and reorganized multiple times from the 4th until the middle of the 15th century, and were in use throughout this entire period by different states: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire. Some of the more interesting finds including a stone block with an Ancient Roman inscription in Greek mentioning the name of Roman Emperor Gordian III (r. 238-244 AD); a 2nd century AD inscription carved into stone stating that “burgi” (fortifications) were built on the border of the Roman colony of Deultum (located some 10 km inland from the Black Sea coast near today’s town of Debelt) – hence, possibly, the name Burgos; a basilica; the remains of a small monastery called “St. George” which is described in a 13th century Byzantine source; the 6th century lead tube reliquary containing ashes from the grave of John the Apostle in Ephesus, Anatolia.

 The Foros pennisula was marked on Italian and Catalan maps from the 13th-17th century as an old fortress and port under the name Poro (strait) or Poros, which means that the fortress defended the waterway entry point of the nearby Lake Mandra which flows out into the Black Sea. A stone inscription dating back to the 2nd century AD (presently exhibited in the Burgas Regional Museum of History) discovered on the site states that “burgi” (fortifications) were built on the border of Roman colony Deultum (located some 10 km inland from the Black Sea coast near today’s town of Debelt). Historians believe that there used to be a large fortified port along the waterway between Lake Mandra and the Black Sea which served and protected the Roman city of Deultum. The Roman road station called Pudizo marked in the 4th century Tabula Peutingeriana (the Peutinger Map showing cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire, covering Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia) has been discovered in this same area.

 The area of the Burgos (Poros) fortress and the Cape of Foros is also famous for being the site of a major battle during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396 AD). The so called Battle of Skafida (named after the Skafida River and the Skafida Fortress, another medieval fortress located nearby) took place in 1304 AD when the forces of Bulgarian Tsar Theodore Svetoslav (r. 1300-1322 AD) defeated the army of Byzantine Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos (Palaeologus) (r. 1294-1320), after having reconquered earlier the nearby Black Sea cities of Rusocastro, Mesembria, Anchialos, Sozopolis and Agathopolis. The victory in the Battle of Skafida helped the Second Bulgarian Empire regain most of the region of Thrace from Byzantium bringing it a period of relative stability at the beginning of the 14th century, after feudal strife had put it in a state of permanent dynastic crisis at the end of the 13th century.

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– Archaeologists in Bulgaria think they've found ashes belonging to one of the 12 apostles. The team found a small lead container with ashes while excavating a basilica that dates back to the sixth century AD, reports Archaeology in Bulgaria. The markings on the inch-long vessel match those at the grave of St. John the Apostle in what is now Turkey, leading researchers to surmise that a long-ago Christian from Bulgaria traveled to the grave site and returned home with the sample of ashes. Such journeys were common around that time, reports Novinite. “Probably a pilgrim from the Foros Peninsula went on a pilgrimage to Ephesus, and came back here with this relic, which was then donated to the basilica on Foros,” says the director of the Burgas Regional Museum of History in Bulgaria. (The ancient basilica is located in what is now the Black Sea city of Burgas.) Archeologists also found a Bulgarian royal seal from the 10th century at the dig site, which includes a fortress, notes the Week. (Another archaeological discovery: an ancient underground city in Turkey.)


Here is a news article: WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama reported assets worth between $1.8 million and $7 million for last year, little changed from their previous year's holdings, according to financial disclosure forms released Thursday.

 The forms, required by law, permit public officials to list their assets in broad ranges. As a result, a precise net worth is difficult to ascertain.

 The forms show the largest jointly owned assets by the president and the first lady were Treasury notes worth between $1 million and $5 million. While the value of their assets is certainly higher than that of most Americans, their mix reflects the financial demands of a 50-something couple with two daughters. Their assets include Vanguard retirement funds and college savings plans.

 Royalties in 2013 from Obama's books, "Dreams From My Father," ''The Audacity of Hope" and "Of Thee I Sing," totaled between $70,000 and $165,000. In 2011, they totaled between $250,000 and $2.1 million.

 The Obamas also have a 30-year mortgage on their Chicago home worth between $500,000 and $1 million with an interest rate of 5.625 percent.

 Vice President Joe Biden reported 2013 assets of between $276,000 and $940,000, including a rental property owned jointly with his wife, Jill, in Wilmington, Delaware.

 Unlike the Obamas, Biden has taken advantage of lower mortgage rates and refinanced his mortgage last year. He listed a 30-year mortgage on his principal residence and his rental property worth between $500,000 and $1 million with an interest rate of 3.375 percent.

 Biden also reported making $25,000 donations to each of two Pennsylvania anti-domestic violence groups. The $50,000 came from an award Biden received from the Pennsylvania Society, which honored Biden last year with its gold medal for distinguished achievement,

 Last month, the Obamas released their 2013 tax returns and reported paying $98,169 in taxes on $481,098 in adjusted income.

 The Bidens reported paying $96,378 in federal taxes last year on adjusted gross income of $407,009. ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 The assets of President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were valued as high as $7 million last year, according to a financial disclosure form released by the White House on Thursday.

 Most of the president’s income came from royalties on his three books and investments made possible by the proceeds. His memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” published in 1995, continued to make the most money for Mr. Obama, generating between $50,001 and $100,000 in royalties, according to the disclosure form. “The Audacity of Hope,” from 2006, earned between $15,001 and $50,000, and “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,” released in 2010, earned between $5,001 and $15,000.

 Sales from Mr. Obama’s books have decreased steadily every year since he took office as president, according to the disclosure forms the White House has released.

 Treasury notes held jointly by the president and Mrs. Obama are their most valuable assets, worth between $1 million and $5 million. The forms only require the Obamas to list their assets and income in wide ranges, leaving it difficult to discern the exact amount of the couple’s worth in 2013.

 Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s publishing career earned him considerably less than the president’s totals. “Promises to Keep,” released in 2007, earned less than $201 in royalties last year, according to Mr. Biden’s financial disclosure form, also released on Thursday.

 The Obamas’ 2013 tax returns, released in April, showed they paid $98,169 in federal taxes on $481,098 in adjusted gross income. The Bidens paid $96,378 in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $407,009.

 The Obama administration was the first to publish financial disclosure reports online. High-ranking government officials have been have been required to release their financial information since passage of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

 “Neither the president nor the vice president have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “We are continuing this administration’s practice of posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency.” |||||
A summary of this is?

– Barack Obama may not be Mitt-Romney-rich (or even Al-Gore-rich), but he's doing all right for himself. The president's latest financial disclosure forms, released yesterday, reveal that he and Michelle had total assets worth somewhere between $1.8 million and $7 million in 2013, the AP reports. (That's just like 2012.) Most of that is in US Treasury notes, which are worth between $1 million and $5 million. Other assets include Vanguard retirement funds and college saving funds. Current financial disclosure rules only require politicians to list their assets within a broad range, so it's hard to pin down exactly how much Obama has, the New York Times explains. Besides his presidential salary, Obama makes most of his money off royalties from his books, though the market seems to believe he peaked as a writer in the '90s. His latest, 2010's Of Thee I Sing, A Letter to My Daughters, earned between $5,001 and $15,000, compared to $50,001-$100,000 for 1995's Dreams From My Father. But even Of Thee's numbers probably sound good to Joe Biden, who made less than $201 in royalties last year off of his 2007 book Promises to Keep.


Article:

Belgium's Queen Fabiola poses with jury members of the Queen Elisabeth music competition at the Laeken castle in Brussels May 28, 2013.

 BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's royal family will start paying taxes for the first time and will lose some state allowances, the government said, bringing them into line with some other monarchies at a time of belt-tightening around Europe.

 The Belgian government has been under pressure to reform the system of royal allowances after national media said Queen Fabiola, the widow of King Baudouin, had planned to pass on an estate in Spain by using a trust to avoid paying tax. The plan drew criticism from Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.

 Under the new system, approved by the Belgian government late on Wednesday, only the monarch, the heir and his or her spouse and also the widow or widower of a deceased monarch will continue to receive money from the state.

 A monarch who abdicated would also receive an allowance.

 The royal family will also lose its exemptions from paying income and value-added tax.

 In the Netherlands, Belgium's northern neighbor, only King Willem-Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima and former queen Beatrix receive a state allowance and also enjoy some tax exemptions.

 In Britain, several members of the royal household receive annual allowances but these are paid by Queen Elizabeth herself, who in turn receives an income approved by parliament. She pays tax on the income.

 Under the Belgian reform, Queen Fabiola, 84, will see her annual allowance cut sharply to about 450,000 euros ($588,900) from 1.3 million euros. Her husband Baodouin died in 1993 and his brother Albert is Belgium's current king.

 Crown Prince Philippe's siblings, Laurent and Astrid, will continue to receive allowances set at a level of about half the amount received by their older brother.

 Future siblings of the next in line to the throne will not receive any state support under the changes. ($1 = 0.7642 euros)

 (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, additional reporting by Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam,; Editing by Gareth Jones) ||||| Belgium's royals set to begin paying taxes, a 1st since 1830

 BRUSSELS -- It's set to be a royal moment: for the first time since Belgium declared independence in 1830, members of the royal household will now have to pay taxes.

 Backed up by two parties in the opposition, the ruling coalition on Wednesday approved the reform.

 King Albert II, who turns 79 on Thursday and who enjoys an annual tax-free allowance of 11.5 million euros (US$15 million), will be exempt however, because the constitution does not allow changing rules for the reigning royal.

 Instead, it is the king's children and the widow of king Baudouin, Queen Fabiola, who will be affected by the new rules.

 Under the current system, 53-year-old throne-heir Prince Philippe receives around 923,000 euros a year, but from now on he will instead receive a gross salary of 180,000 euros, subject to taxes.

 Money earmarked for staff and expenses related to carrying out his job will be taken from the initial stipend and will not be taxed, but those costs will be closely scrutinized.

 His siblings, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent, will receive gross wages of 90,000 euros.

 Queen Fabiola, whose annual allowance was this year slashed from 1.4 million euros to 923,000 euros, recently faced an unprecedented attack from the media, the public and politicians after deciding at the age of 84 to set up a private foundation to provide funds for her nephews and for Catholic charities on her death.

 Critics accused the Baudouin's widow of planning to funnel the funds to Spanish relatives via the foundation, thus avoiding Belgium's 70 percent death duties.

 From now on, the surviving spouse of a sovereign will have funds cut to two-thirds of that of an heir for 10 years, and to just half of it beyond that period.

 In the future, only the heir of the throne will receive an allowance. |||||
What is a summary?

– Belgium is taking after the monarchies of Britain and the Netherlands and trimming the royal purse strings. Reigning King Albert II is exempt, but other royals are going to pay income taxes for the first time and get smaller allowances, reports Reuters. For instance, in the case of Queen Fabiola—she is the widow of the previous king—her annual allowance is shrinking to $600,000 from $1.7 million. The king's kids are taking similar cuts, reports AFP. Much of this stems from an outrage that ensued earlier this year when Fabiola was accused of trying to skirt the system by setting up a trust to shield her fortune from estate taxes.


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– He used to be a city boy with zero experience with the great outdoors. But that didn't stop Masafumi Nagasaki from heading to the uninhabited Japanese island of Sotobanari for what he thought would be a two-year respite from the rest of the world. That was in 1989, as the man who came to be known as the "naked hermit" ended up sticking around until this past April, a nearly 30-year stay all by his lonesome. The 82-year-old, who long ago eschewed clothing, technology, and other creature comforts and had hoped to die on the island, was removed earlier this year after someone reportedly called authorities out of concern he'd become too weak, documentary maker Alvaro Cerezo tells News.com.au. "They took him back to civilization and that's it," Cerezo says. "They won't allow him to return." Cerezo spent five days with Nagasaki before he was booted from his "paradise," where he insists he was never lonely, bored, or sad. A 2012 Reuters article reported Nagasaki did don clothing once a week to make a boat trip to a settlement an hour away to buy food and water; he'd also collect an allowance sent from his family. Speaking of family, Nagasaki was once married and may have had a couple of kids, but he "doesn't like to talk about his past," Cerezo notes. What he missed most from his former life while he was holed up on the island: lighters, per the documentary. What he didn't miss: money and religion. "[Those] two things are destroying the world," he says. He also wished he could have been killed by a typhoon during his stay so "nobody [would] try to save me." Nagasaki is now living in a government house in a city about 40 miles away from his beloved island. (This man is one of central Europe's last hermits.)

Watch the amazing story of an 82-year-old man who's voluntarily lived on a deserted island for almost three decades.

 A MAN who lived as a castaway on a deserted island for almost 30 years has been removed from his home after becoming the longest lasting voluntary castaway alive.

 Masafumi Nagasaki arrived on the island of Sotobanari, on the Yaeyama Islands, an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1989 and lived a life in solitude until he became known as the “naked hermit” as a 76-year-old in 2012. The island is one of the few that remain deserted in Japan where according to locals, even fisherman rarely stop.

 Mr Nagasaki is among the few voluntary castaways who have spent decades on a deserted island; he has surpassed Australian castaway David Glasheen who this year celebrates 21 years on Restoration Island, off the coast of Far North Queensland.

 His recent eviction was detected by Alvaro Cerezo, who documents island castaways including the ‘real life tarzan’ who lived in the deepest jungles of Vietnam.

 There are no phones. No lighters. No fresh water — and not many clothes either. He braves typhoons and biting mosquitoes in the buff.

 • Woman dumps herself on deserted island

 • Real-life castaway: ‘He’s not afraid to die’

 • Castaway reveals difficulties of island life

 Mr Nagasaki’s only wish was to die on the island he called home for the last three decades.

 “Finding a place to die is an important thing to do, and I’ve decided here is the place for me,” he told Reuters in 2012.

 “It hadn’t really occurred to me before how important it is to choose the place of your death, like whether it’s in a hospital or at home with family by your side. But to die here, surrounded by nature — you just can’t beat it, can you?”

 He told Docastaway’s Alvaro Cerezo, who spent five days on the island with Mr Nagasaki before his sudden departure: “I don’t want to move from here, I will protect this island. I will risk my life to protect this island. I will never find a paradise like this.

 “I’ve never felt sad here, I cannot survive if I have those kinds of feelings. Things here are more realistic.”

 Mr Nagasaki was so confident he said he “will never move from here even if the world changes”.

 “I won’t leave even if someone tells me there is a better place. All that I want I can find it here. I don’t need any thing else,” he said.

 “I have no option, I’ve already told my family I will die here. My wish is to die here without bothering any one, that’s why I don’t want to get sick or injured. I want to be killed by a typhoon, so nobody can try to save me. To die here is the best, its just perfect for me.”

 It’s unclear how Mr Nagasaki ended up on Sotobanari in the first place. At one point he was married and there are suspicions he has two children, but he “doesn’t like to talk about his past”, according to Mr Cerezo.

 He was believed to have been a photographer before escaping civilisation, but again, “he doesn’t want to hear or talk about”. He even apparently ran his own hostess club in Niigata, a port city in Honshu, Japan’s main island.

 Mr Nagasaki said he was working in a factory in Osaka when one day a colleague told him about a mysterious archipelago and since then he dreamt of escaping from civilisation. One day, when on a flight, he was “horrified” by the amount of pollution he saw in the sea below and “exploded”. So the self-confessed “city man with no outdoor experience” packed his bags and found his remote island hideaway. He thought he would stay perhaps two years max, but ended up clocking almost 30 years.

 “In civilisation people treated me like an idiot and made me feel like one. On this island I don’t feel like that,” he said.

 “Here, on the island I don’t do what people tell me to do, I just follow nature’s rules. You can’t dominate nature so you have to obey it completely.”

 Mr Nagasaki spent his first few years on the island clothed but when a typhoon swept through and destroyed his few belongings, he realised “wearing clothes here was completely out of place for me” and began to live life commando.

 “Walking around naked doesn’t really fit in with normal society, but here on the island it feels right, it’s like a uniform,” he told Reuters in 2012.

 “If you put on clothes you’ll feel completely out of place.”

 He’s spent the rest of his time on the island naked and alone but he found friends in some strange places; he stopped eating meat and fish and refused to eat the vast number of turtle eggs left by its maternal visitors.

 “I’ve seen those baby turtles being born and crawling towards the sea. I get goosebumps every time I see that. It makes me think how wonderful life is.

 “This environment makes me feel like that this island really changed me. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I have no problem with it.”

 Despite the freedom of a tropical paradise, Mr Nagasaki’s routine was strict; gym session in the morning, followed by hours of beach cleaning with a pair pf white gloves and a rake.

 “I have never seen a beach as clean as his, not even in the most luxurious island resorts,” Mr Cerezo said.

 “They were five unforgettable days and I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to see through his eyes for the last time and enjoy his precious island.”

 Fast forward to April 2018 and authorities have removed the 82-year-old and returned him back to civilisation.

 “He was kicked out of the island, someone saw him on the island and it seems like he was weak,” Mr Cerezo told news.com.au.

 “They called the police and they took him back to civilisation and that’s it. He couldn’t even fight back because he was weak. They won’t allow him to return.”

 Mr Cerezo, whose business it is to find idyllic islands and host private visitors, said that since being removed, Mr Nagasaki is now living in the nearest city to the island, Ishigaki, 60 kilometres away in a government house.

 “His health is OK, he was probably only sick or had the flu [when he was taken] but they won’t allow him to go back any more, he cannot go there, it’s over.”

 — For more information about Masafumi Nagasaki visit nagasaki.docastaway.com.

 — For more information on Alvaro Cerezo and Docastaway, visit docastaway.com

 — Continue the conversation with Matt Young on Facebook or Twitter ||||| SOTOBANARI ISLAND, Japan (Reuters) - Dangerous currents swirl around Sotobanari island, which has not a drop of natural water, and local fishermen rarely land there.

 Seventy-six-year-old naked hermit Masafumi Nagasaki sits at table made from polystyrene box as he eats a food on Sotobanari island, off western coast of Iriomote island, Okinawa prefecture, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

 But 76-year-old Masafumi Nagasaki has made this kidney-shaped island in Japan’s tropical Okinawa prefecture his retirement home, with an unusual dress code: nothing at all.

 Naked, he braves lashing typhoons and biting insects as a hermit in the buff.

 “I don’t do what society tells me, but I do follow the rules of the natural world. You can’t beat nature so you just have to obey it completely,” he said.

 “That’s what I learned when I came here, and that’s probably why I get by so well.”

 Seventy-six-year-old naked hermit Masafumi Nagasaki speaks on Sotobanari island, off western coast of Iriomote island, Okinawa prefecture, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

 The wiry Nagasaki, his skin leathered by the sun of two decades on the island, worked briefly as a photographer before spending years on the murkier side of the entertainment industry. When retirement came, he wanted to get far away from it all.

 He chose Sotobanari, which is roughly a 1,000 meters across and means “Outer Distant island” in the local dialect. It lies off the coast of Iriomote island, far closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo.

 His resolve was tested relatively soon into his stay when a massive typhoon swept over the island, scouring away most of the scrub he had counted on for shade, as well as carrying away the simple tent he lived in.

 “I just scorched under the sun,” he said. “It was at that point I thought this was going to be an impossible place to live.”

 For the first year he lived on Sotobanari, he threw on clothes whenever boats passed his way. But slowly the island stripped away his embarrassment.

 “Walking around naked doesn’t really fit in with normal society, but here on the island it feels right, it’s like a uniform,” he said. “If you put on clothes you’ll feel completely out of place.”

 Slideshow (7 Images)

 He does throw on clothes once a week for a trip to a settlement an hour away by boat, where he buys food and drinking water. He also collects the 10,000 yen ($120) sent to him by his family, on which he lives.

 His staple food is rice cakes, which he boils in water, eating whenever hunger strikes - sometimes four or five times a day. Water for bathing and shaving comes from rainwater caught in a system of battered cooking pots.

 Each day is conducted according to a strict timetable, starting with stretches in the sun on the beach. The rest is a race against time as he prepares food, washes and cleans his camp before the light fails and insects come out to bite.

 It isn’t the healthiest of lifestyles, he concedes - but that isn’t the point.

 “Finding a place to die is an important thing to do, and I’ve decided here is the place for me,” he said.

 “It hadn’t really occurred to me before how important it is to choose the place of your death, like whether it’s in a hospital or at home with family by your side. But to die here, surrounded by nature - you just can’t beat it, can you?”

 ($1 = 80.3800 Japanese yen) ||||| Published on Jun 24, 2018

 Masafumi Nagasaki is an 82 year old Japanese man who has lived completely alone as a castaway for the last 29 years on Sotobanari desert island (Iriomote Okinawa, Japan)

 This voluntary Robinson Crusoe with his bright pink turban has spent all this time living completely naked and surviving by himself. He has become the voluntary castaway who has lived the longest time on a desert island.

 The only wish of this survivor was to die on his desert island. But sadly the Japanese Authorities forced him to return to civilization last month :(

 Fortunately we lived with him for 5 unforgettable days before he was kicked out, and were able to share his life and carry out this fascinating interview documentary.

 READ FULL STORY: https://bit.ly/2lAnMUl

 NAGASAKI TRIBUTE WEBSITE: http://nagasaki.docastaway.com/

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 WE HAVE ALSO DISCOVERED MORE ROBINSON LIKE HIM:

 - Watch 'The Vietnamese Tarzan' https://youtu.be/jXw3Mfe9Sm0

 - Watch 'The Australian Hermit' https://youtu.be/w4NichvCRlE

 - Watch 'The First Castaway Girl' https://youtu.be/TdtB6Eol-rE

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Become a Robinson with us: http://www.docastaway.com/

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Appearing on this video:

 - Alvaro Cerezo https://www.facebook.com/AlvaroDocast...

 - Tamiki Kato https://www.facebook.com/tamiki.kato

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Docastaway

 Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/Docastaway |||||


– The Alabama police officer who partially paralyzed an Indian man out for a walk has been arrested and will likely be fired. The Madison police chief says he's recommended Eric Parker be fired because his use of force against someone who was unarmed, had committed no crime, and does not speak English "did not meet the high standards and expectations of the Madison City Police Department." Parker turned himself in yesterday and will face assault charges, AL.com reports. Police have released audio and video related to Sureshbhai Patel's encounter with police, including video showing Patel being thrown to the ground and audio of the initial call to police from a neighbor of Patel's son, who says, "I've lived here four years and I've never seen him before." (Patel had arrived the week prior to assist with caring for his 17-month-old grandchild.) Parker was actually a field trainer for the police department and had his trainee with him at the time of the confrontation. Audio reveals snippets of their conversation with Patel and highlights the communication barrier: When asked for his address, the 57-year-old just points, WHNT reports. At one point, an officer says, "Do not jerk away from me again, or I will put you on the ground. Do you understand?" As another patrol car pulls up and the officers have Patel turned around with his hands behind his back, Parker slams him forcefully to the ground; because of Patel's arm placement, he could not break his fall. As officers try unsuccessfully to get him to stand back up, their conversation reveals their awareness that "he don't speak a lick of English." The FBI is also investigating to see if federal laws were violated. A GoFundMe campaign for Patel has raised nearly $37,000 so far; the family says he remains partially paralyzed.

Expand this summary.

Sureshbhai Patel, 57, had recently arrived to the United States to help his son and daughter-in-law care for their 17-month-old child.Less than a week later, Patel was approached by the Madison Police Department in response to a suspicious person call. Sureshbhai, who does not speak English, struggled to communicate with the police. In an attempt to search him, Patel was forced to the ground by an officer and severly injured (left partially paralyzed).Patel underwent surgery the next day at Huntsville Hospital where doctors performed a cervical fusion. Sureshbhai faces a long recovery and is only beginning to regain feeling in his arms and one leg.The family has hired a local attorney to sue the Madison Police Department.(Aakash) - I'm a member of the Indian community supporting this cause. I've spoken directly with Hank Sherrod (family attorney) and Chirag Patel (the son of Sureshbhai) to get approval for starting this Go Fund Me. All donation withdrawals from the Go Fund Me will be managed by the family of Sureshbhai -- I can not personally authorize or request any withdrawals from this campaign.Please reach out directly if you have any questions, thank you for your support.Video:Link to Articles: ||||| Madison police officer Eric Parker today turned himself in to face assault charges, following the severe injuries to an Indian citizen who was walking down the street outside his son's new home.

 Chief Larry Muncey told a small press conference in Madison that he also recommended that Parker be fired for his use of force against a man who committed no crime, did not speak English and could not understand the commands.

 Muncey said "I found that Officer Eric Parker's actions did not meet the high standards and expectations of the Madison City Police Department."

 Five members of the local Indian community sat in the front row, along with Indian Consul Anil Kumar, to watch the video from the patrol cars and listen to the non-emergency call that led to the violent confrontation.

 Call to police about Indian grandfather in Madison

 The caller early Friday morning reports an individual walking on the street near his home. "He was doing it yesterday and today...He's just on foot. He's just kind of walking around close to the garage."

 The operator asks what the man looks like. "He's a skinny black guy, he's got a toboggan on, he's really skinny."

 He adds: "I've lived here four years and I've never seen him before."

 Sureshbhai Patel had only arrived in the United States about a week earlier to help care for his grandson. Patel took a walk each morning, according to his son, Chirag Patel, an engineer who recently bought a home in Madison.

 The caller says: "I'm just kind of following from a distance now." He says he is about to go to work and is nervous to leave his wife with the man walking around outside.

 The dashboard camera shows two officers, field trainer Parker and his trainee Andrew Slaughter, approach the man just after 8 a.m. on Friday. The man stops and turns and steps toward them. The audio offers a clips of the interaction, mainly just what the officers say.

 "What's going on sir?"

 "You what?"

 "India."

 "Where you heading?"

 "Where?"

 "I can't understand you, sir."

 "Where's your address?"

 "Do you have any ID?"

 "India?"

 "Do you live here."

 "Sir, sir, come here."

 "Do not jerk away from me again, or I will put you on the ground. Do you understand?"

 Eventually, the two officers turn Patel around and have his hands behind his back. At one point, as another patrol car pulls up, Parker yanks his arm and slams him into the ground. Patel can not put out his hands to break his fall. He would require cervical fusion and remains in Huntsville Hospital with limited mobility in his limbs. His son as of Tuesday said his father could not move one leg at all.

 The video continues, with officers trying to get the man to stand. One officer begins picking dirt and debris off of him. The concern slowly becomes evident in their voices.

 "He don't speak a lick of English."

 "I tried to pat him down but he tried to walk away from me."

 "I don't know what his problem is but he won't listen."

 "He was trying to walk away."

 "Did you bite your lip?"

 "He OK?"

 Parker turned himself in to Limestone County today, said Chief Muncey. He will face charges of assault third degree. Muncey apologized to Patel, his family and all of Madison. "Our desire is to exceed everyone's expectations."

 Parker was released on a $1,000 bond.

 Muncey said the FBI is conducting a "parallel inquiry to ascertain if there were any federal violations."

 Attorney Hank Sherrod filed suit today in federal court, arguing police used excessive force and that they had no cause to stop Patel on a public sidewalk and search him.

 Sherrod welcomed the news of the dismissal of this officer, as he called for exactly that on Tuesday. But Sherrod said Madison should never have released a statement suggesting that Patel had been looking into garages or was in any way responsible for the incident.

 [Click here for the initial story with details on Sureshbhai Patel, his family and his injuries]

 "They didn't do that on Monday," said Sherrod. "On Monday they were trying to blame Mr. Patel. On Monday they were minimizing this. I'm glad they apparently are starting to do the right thing. But why weren't they doing this on Monday? With those videos."

 Members of the local Hindu community, who asked not to be named, said after the press conference that they are known for non-violence. "We don't hurt nobody, that is our principle...we don't hurt the snake." ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) - Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey says he has recommended one of his officers be terminated after an incident last week that left a 57-year-old Indian man severely injured. The officer has also been charged with third-degree assault.

 Chief Muncey spoke at a news conference Thursday afternoon, discussing the department's use of force investigation into the incident. Police showed video and audio of the officers' encounter with the man. Afterward, Chief Muncey said the actions of Officer Eric Parker did not meet the standards of the Madison Police Department.

 "I sincerely apologize to Mr. Patel, Mr. Patel's family and our community. We strive to exceed expectations," said Chief Muncey. He said he has proposed Officer Parker be terminated, and he has also been arrested for third-degree assault. Parker turned himself in on the charge.

 Chief Muncey said Officer Parker turned himself in to the Limestone County Sheriff's Office on the assault charge.

 The FBI will also conduct a civil rights inquiry, and will turn over its findings to the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if further actions will be taken.

 Parker has been in the news before. WHNT News 19 confirmed he was the victim of an attempted robbery back in August. Officials say Parker was off duty. When Madison Police released information about Parker after the incident, they noted he won two meritorious awards for his work in less than two years on the force.

 The incident took place the morning of Friday, February 6. A neighbor called police about a suspicious man walking in the neighborhood and dispatchers sent two officers there. Click here to listen to the call.

 Dashcam video shows officers arrived at 8:18 a.m.

 Two officers, one of them Parker, spot Patel on the sidewalk. They get out of the patrol car and walk up to him. In the audio, the officers ask Patel for ID, then ask his name. "Do you live here?" the officers ask. "What's your address?" and Patel points at something. The language barrier becomes apparent, because Patel does not speak English. The officers then ask Patel not to jerk away. An officer repeats that, and soon afterward, Patel is thrown down.

 Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 Members of the local Indian community also attended Thursday's news conference to show their support for Patel. The group included Indian Consul Anil Kumar, who flew in from Atlanta solely to meet with Patel. He pushed his flight back on Thursday to attend the presser. After watching the video, all of them told WHNT News 19 that they are peaceful people and the treatment of Patel was unjust.

 Previous reports

 Earlier this week, WHNT News 19 spoke with the family of the Indian man injured, Sureshbhai Patel. The 57-year-old man does not speak English and has been hospitalized since February 6, when he was out for a walk in his son's neighborhood off County Line Road.

 Offers of help have poured in from as far away as California. Many in north Alabama have also expressed a desire to help. Supporters have set up a gofundme account to help the Patel family with their mounting medical bills. Patel has no insurance.

 Mr. Patel had arrived just six days earlier from India, to help his son and daughter-in-law with childcare. Madison Police, investigating a call about a suspicious person, stopped the 57-year-old as he walked down the family's street. Police admit there was a language barrier and Patel was forced to the ground, suffering injury.

 The family says he was taken to Madison Hospital, with no feeling in his arms or legs. Doctors performed neck surgery the next day. According to the family, he has since regained some feeling in his limbs but remains partially paralyzed. They say doctors expect a long road to recovery. The Patel family filed a lawsuit Feb. 12 against the City of Madison and the Madison Police Department.

 Organizers of the gofundme account have set a goal of $25,000. As of Thursday afternoon, they had raised more than $13,000.

 Related: AshaKiran, local cultural group, discusses holding training workshops with Madison Police to improve communication barrier |||||


Summarize this article:

University of California officials said Tuesday they will pay the medical expenses of students who were pepper sprayed during an Occupy Davis protest last week.

 Authorities have also decided to drop charges against 10 people who were arrested during the Friday protest on the campus of UC Davis. And the university system has created an advisory panel to look into the incident, University of California President Mark Yudof said.

 Bill Bratton, who has led police departments in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, will head the panel, Yudof said.

 "My intent," Yudof said, "is to provide the chancellor and the entire University of California community with an independent, unvarnished report about what happened at Davis."

 Video of the incident has sparked widespread criticism, more protests and calls for the resignation of the school's chancellor.

 A campus police officer, in a sweeping motion, sprayed seated protesters at point blank range during a police attempt to clear out an Occupy encampment. ||||| As the tent city on the University of California, Davis, tripled in size, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi insisted Tuesday that the school's police department defied her orders when it used force against students in last week's pepper-spray fiasco.

 "We told the police to remove the tents or the equipment," Katehi said in an interview with The Bee in her office inside the administration building, which remains locked down to the public.

 "We told them very specifically to do it peacefully, and if there were too many of them, not to do it, if the students were aggressive, not to do it. And then we told them we also do not want to have another Berkeley."

 In her most expansive comments since Friday's attempt to remove the tents spiraled into the pepper-spraying of students, Katehi said she still does not know who decided to use pepper spray and was stunned when she first saw video clips of it Friday night.

 "It looked horrible, horrific, I would say , " Katehi said. "I can tell you that I woke up Saturday really early in the morning, like 3 a.m., and I felt like it was a disaster on our hands."

 She also said she never would have approved the use of full-scale riot gear by officers sent in to remove the students and that Police Chief Annette Spicuzza was part of an emergency conference call before the incident.

 "We told her that it has to be peaceful, that anything else would not be acceptable," Katehi said one day after Spicuzza was placed on administrative leave along with two officers who used the pepper spray.

 Spicuzza did not respond to a message left at her home Tuesday, but she has previously said the officers used the pepper spray because they were being cut off from other police by the students. Video clips that have surfaced so far do not show that happening.

 Katehi said Spicuzza indicated Saturday that it was Lt. John Pike who decided to use the pepper spray.

 "I believe on Saturday when I spoke with her I said, 'What happened?' " Katehi said. "She tried to explain that it was the decision of Lt. Pike."

 Pike's voice mail has been full since Sunday, and he could not be reached.

 Video clips of the officers spraying students who were sitting peacefully on the ground have been viewed online by millions of people since Friday and resulted in widespread calls for Katehi to resign.

 She has resisted those calls and met with student groups several times Tuesday, including an afternoon session at which she called for all charges against 10 individuals in Friday's incident  nine of them students  to be dropped.

 She also said UC Davis and the UC system would cover all medical expenses incurred by students who were pepper- sprayed.

 The effort last Friday to remove the campers, who had gathered to protest tuition hikes as a part of the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, backfired almost immediately.

 After a Monday rally attended by thousands of students, faculty and others at which Katehi apologized, groups once again began to erect tents on the quad. By Tuesday, there were more than 75 tents, and Katehi said she would seek negotiations to coax them into leaving rather than take renewed police action.

 Meanwhile, she has ordered police to remain ready to help campers if some sort of emergency arises, but to stay out of sight.

 "They are on call, but they are not visible," she said, adding that the school has brought in portable restrooms and is looking into providing facilities for food and drink to maintain a healthy environment.

 Katehi visited the growing encampment at least twice on Tuesday with mixed results. In the morning, she said, she was able to speak with 20 to 30 students and "had a very good discussion."

 She was invited back about 11 a.m. during the group's general assembly. But after she waited quietly for 20 minutes, the students could not agree on whether to deviate from their agenda to allow her to speak and she finally walked away.

 On her way back to her office, Katehi was greeted by a number of students who expressed their support for her and said they do not believe she had approved of officers using force against the students.

 "She was worried about the safety of the students," said Kiran Ashan, a psychology junior.

 "And I just feel that those (campers), some of them are from Occupy Sacramento, they're not even Davis students," Ashan said. "What are they doing on a Davis campus?

 The use of force by campus police at Davis and Berkeley against protesters has resulted in a systemwide review by UC officials, and the Legislature agreed Tuesday to hold hearings on the matter.

 In addition, UC President Mark Yudof announced that he has asked William Bratton, who has headed police forces in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, to conduct an independent review of Friday's incident.

 Katehi said the policies that campuses use to respond to encampments need to be changed as a result of the latest incidents.

 University officials must "recognize that we are a campus of the 21st century, and students have different needs and different expectations of how to express themselves, and yet we have protocols of 30 or 40 years ago," she said. "And we have a police force that has been trained for the incidents we dealt with 20 or 30 years ago."

 © Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

  Read more articles by Sam Stanton |||||

– UC Davis continues to try to make amends for its pepper-spray YouTube sensation. The school says it will pick up any medical bills incurred by the students who got doused, along with dropping the misdemeanor charges against them, reports CNN. The university also is setting up the obligatory review panel, as Chancellor Linda Katehi insists that officers defied her orders not to use force, notes the Sacramento Bee. The main officer, involved, meanwhile faces the wrath of Anonymous.


Here is a news article: The economic value of prostitution, illegal drug sales, and trafficking in contraband cigarettes and alcohol will all be measured by Italy's national statistical agency Istat as it calculates the country's 2014 gross domestic production (GDP), it announced Thursday.

 Istat said that starting in September, its 2014 economic measurements will include those three areas of illegal activities, in line with methodology being applied in measuring national accounts within the European Union.

 The move updates the previous system of national account measures implemented in 1995, Istat said in a news release. Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, has provided guidelines that will include an estimate of accounts for illegal activities including prostitution, contraband cigarettes and alcohol, and illegal drug trafficking.

 Istat said it will be difficult to measure the illegal activities.

 Expanding its measure of GDP to include these elements of the underground economy will likely add as much as 1% to 2% to Italian GDP, the agency said.

 Measurements that increase the size of the country's GDP could be good news for the national government, for example when it calculates the ratio of the deficit to GDP.

  ||||| Italy will include prostitution and illegal drug sales in the gross domestic product calculation this year, a boost for its chronically stagnant economy and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s effort to meet deficit targets.

 Drugs, prostitution and smuggling will be part of GDP as of 2014 and prior-year figures will be adjusted to reflect the change in methodology, the Istat national statistics office said today. The revision was made to comply with European Union rules, it said.

 Renzi, 39, is committed to narrowing Italy’s deficit to 2.6 percent of GDP this year, a task that’s easier if output is boosted by portions of the underground economy that previously went uncounted. Four recessions in the last 13 years left Italy’s GDP at 1.56 trillion euros ($2.13 trillion) last year, 2 percent lower than in 2001 after adjusting for inflation.

 “Even if the impact is hard to quantify, it’s obvious it will have a positive impact on GDP,” said Giuseppe Di Taranto, economist and professor of financial history at Rome’s Luiss University. “Therefore Renzi will have a greater margin this year to spend” without breaching the deficit limit, he said.

 A spokesman for the Finance Ministry declined to comment on the new system.

 The change in methodology will also bring research and development and arms into the GDP calculation. R&D, now considered investment spending, was previously excluded because it was classified as an intermediate cost.

 To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at afrye@bloomberg.net; Chiara Vasarri in Rome at cvasarri@bloomberg.net

 To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net; Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net Andrew Langley, James Kraus |||||
A summary of this is?

– Surprisingly enough, this idea didn't come from Silvio Berlusconi: Italy plans to include things like illegal drug sales, prostitution, and cigarette smuggling in its GDP figures for the first time, immediately giving the size of the economy a big boost, Bloomberg reports. Prime Minister Mario Renzi has pledged to cut the country's deficit to 2.6% of GDP, a target that will be a lot easier to hit when illegal sectors of the economy are included. The European Union's statistical agency has provided guidelines for estimating the contribution of illegal activities to the economy, and the move is expected to add up to 2% to Italy's GDP, ANSA reports. (As for Berlusconi, he's doing community service at a hospice after being convicted of tax fraud.)