Here is a news article: A teenage suspect has been arrested in connection with fatally shooting a mother of four after a road rage incident last week, police said Thursday.

 "It is believed right now he is the only shooter, but there is another suspect involved in the incident," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Christopher Tomaino said.

 Erich Nowsch, 19, was arrested early Thursday afternoon after a brief standoff at a home a block away from the scene of the Feb. 12 shooting.

 LVMPD Homicide detectives have arrested the suspect in the February 12th road rage shooting incident. pic.twitter.com/gnSKokTNaZ — LVMPD (@LVMPD) February 19, 2015

 Police said Nowsch shot Tammy Meyers, 44, outside her home around 11:22 p.m. that night, and she died two days later. He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and discharging a gun in a vehicle.

 The shooting occurred after Meyers was confronted by an angry driver in a road rage incident earlier that night, as she was heading home with her daughter.

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 Police said that after Meyers got home, she and her 22-year-old armed son went out looking for that driver and followed a car she believed was the same as the one involved in the earlier incident. They stopped following that car and went back home, and that's when a silver or gray car pulled up and someone inside began shooting, police said.

 Meyers’ husband, Robert, said the family is familiar with the suspect.

 "We know this boy. I couldn't tell you this before," Robert Meyers told reporters outside his home after the arrest. "He knew where I lived. We knew how bad he was, but we didn’t know he was this bad."

 Robert Meyers said his wife "spent countless hours at that park consoling this boy," that she fed him and gave him money, and that "she told him to pull his pants up and to be a man, more times than I can count."

 Meyers’ son shot back after the gunman opened fire on them that night, police said. The firearm her son used is properly registered, according to authorities.

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 "I did what I had to do to protect my family. Everyone can think what they have to think; I did it for a reason. And I'd do it for anyone I love," Meyers' son, Brandon, said at a vigil Tuesday.

 Nowsch also had firearms registered to him, Tomaino said. He did not specify how many weapons Nowsch had or what kind they were.

 As Nowsch was apprehended on Thursday, Robert Meyers lashed out at reporters, saying, "Are you happy? you made my wife look like an animal, and my son! There’s the animal! A block away! Are you happy?" ||||| Las Vegas (CNN) Tammy Meyers and Erich Nowsch were neighbors. Their homes are walking distance from each other and from a park.

 It was in that park where, according to Meyers' husband, she used to talk to the young man, where she implored him to act like an adult.

 On Thursday, Nowsch was arrested, accused of killing Meyers in what has been described as a road rage incident that ended a week ago with a shooting in front of Meyers' home.

 "We know this boy. I couldn't tell you this before," Robert Meyers told reporters after the arrest. "He knew where I lived. We knew how bad he was, but we didn't know it was this bad. That he'd gotten to this point, and his friends."

 Nowsch, 19, faces three felony charges: murder, attempted murder and unlawful discharge of a gun from a vehicle. A Monday morning court hearing has been scheduled.

 LVMPD Homicide detectives have arrested the suspect in the February 12th road rage shooting incident. pic.twitter.com/gnSKokTNaZ — LVMPD (@LVMPD) February 19, 2015

 Robert Meyers said his wife tried to help Nowsch.

 "My wife spent countless hours at that park consoling this boy," he said. "She was really good to him. She fed him, she gave him money. She told him to pull his pants up and to be a man. More times than I can count."

 Police said they are looking for at least one more suspect, but they believe Nowsch was the shooter. Homicide Capt. Chris Tomaino told reporters that he owned registered firearms but wouldn't say how many guns or what type of weapons they were.

 It was unclear Thursday night whether Nowsch had an attorney; court documents detailing his charges didn't list a lawyer.

 Nowsch was taken into custody in the afternoon after a brief, tense standoff at his mother's home, which is one street over from the Meyers' house.

 Police have said the shooting followed a road-rage incident that took place last week near a junior high school where Meyers gave her 15-year-old daughter a night-time driving lesson.

 As Meyers drove the less than half mile home, a car sped by and her daughter reached over and honked at the driver. Police said the car stopped and the driver got out to confront the Meyerses.

 Robert Meyers told HLN's Nancy Grace on Thursday that the man threatened to kill his wife and daughter.

 Tammy Meyers, 44, took off for home and sent her daughter inside. Lt. Ray Steiber, a Las Vegas homicide detective, said earlier this week that the daughter was asked to send her 22-year-old brother out. He brought with him a gun he owned.

 Steiber said Meyers then went looking for the road rage suspect, but, according to her husband, she just wanted to keep the situation away from the house.

 "She just didn't want it to come back here. She tried to get him to go somewhere else," he said.

 Robert Meyers, who was out of town when his wife was shot, said the other car followed the Meyers and at some point away from the house there were gunshots.

 Tammy Meyers fled home and told her son to take cover as she parked in front of the house. The car -- with three people inside, the family has said -- approached.

 Meyers' son told police that they were fired upon, and he defended him and his mother. His father says he took three or four shots and found his mother mortally wounded.

 The father defended the family against criticism that they should have gone into the house when mother and daughter arrived after the road rage incident.

 "My son is a good boy. His mom was a good mommy," Robert Meyers said.

 JUST WATCHED Standoff underway near road-rage scene Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Standoff underway near road-rage scene 07:25

 During a standoff at Nowsch's house earlier Thursday, Robert Meyers chastised reporters, whom he felt were placing blame on his loved ones.

 "Are you all happy? You made my wife look like an animal ... and my son. There's the animal, a block away. Are you happy?" Robert Meyers screamed.

 Police are looking for a second suspect, Tomaino, the homicide captain, said. He wouldn't say whether that person was the suspect depicted in a drawing handed out by police.

 The captain said authorities were unaware until Thursday that the Meyers family knew Nowsch.

 He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Police yesterday arrested a suspect in the recent road rage slaying of a Las Vegas woman—and the two knew each other. Erich Milton Nowsch was arrested at a home only about a block away from where victim Tammy Meyers lived; he faces charges of murder and attempted murder and is believed to be 19, reports the Review-Journal. Meyers, a 44-year-old mother of four, was shot to death outside her house on Feb. 12. Robert Meyers says his wife knew Nowsch and had previously given him food and money. "We knew how bad he was, but we didn't know he was this bad," he told reporters, per NBC News. "[Tammy] spent countless hours at that park consoling this boy ... and she told him to pull his pants up and to be a man, more times than I can count." "Are you all happy? You made my wife look like an animal ... and my son," Robert Meyers screamed at reporters yesterday, reports CNN. "There's the animal, a block away. Are you happy?" Her husband's outburst of anger stems from a twist in the case: Police revealed that Meyers had actually returned home from an initial encounter with the suspect, picked up her armed 22-year-old son, and drove off again apparently in search of Nowsch. She was killed during a shootout as they returned home from that trip. Robert Meyers says the man threatened to kill his wife and daughter, who was in the car during the first encounter. "Yes, maybe in a make-up world she should have stayed home," he wrote in a text to a CNN producer. "Please remember statement from this animal, 'I'm going to kill you and your daughter.'" Police say they are looking for a second suspect but say that Nowsch was the shooter.


News article:

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 / Updated By Alastair Jamieson

 Russia has a new array of nuclear-capable weapons including an intercontinental ballistic missile that renders defense systems “useless,” President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday.

 The ICBM has a longer range than any other and can reach almost any target in the world, Putin said in his annual address to lawmakers and political elites.

 Other new technologies he highlighted included supersonic missiles and drone submarines that he said cannot be stopped.

 Putin's marathon speech came 17 days before a presidential election in which he is seeking an unprecedented fourth term in power. It was accompanied by video footage showing some of the new weaponry in action as well as simulations on a giant screen.

 To rapturous applause, Putin said the new technology had been developed despite skepticism from other countries about Russia's capabilities.

 "I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development ... you have failed to contain Russia," he said.

 He accused the West of "ignoring us. Nobody listened to us. Well listen to us now."

 "Russia’s strong military is a guarantor of peace on our planet."

 He boasted that Russia's new ICBM is “powerful and modern and defense systems will not be able to withstand it,” he said. “Missile defenses will be useless against it.”

 Other new weapons include the Avangard — an intercontinental hypersonic missile that would fly to targets at a speed 20 times the speed of sound — and a weapons system called Kinzhal, already deployed in southern Russia, that uses hypersonic missiles that can strike targets 1,250 miles away.

 Putin insisted Russia had "no plans to be an aggressor."

 "We are not going to take anything away from anybody. We have everything we need," he said. "Russia’s strong military is a guarantor of peace on our planet."

 However, he warned: "Any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies … any kind of attack … will be regarded as a nuclear attack against Russia and in response we will take action instantaneously no matter what the consequences are. Nobody should have any doubt about that."

 Paul Cheung / NBC News

 He added: "Our policy will never be based on exceptionalism, we just protect our own interests."

 America's nuclear strategy had "raised concerns in Russia," he said.

 The display of military prowess came at the end of Putin's state-of-the-nation speech, which lasted almost two hours and covered everything from health care to the annual grain harvest.

 Earlier, the leader pledged to improve the lives of Russians by cutting poverty by half, boosting pensions and creating more daycare places. He also called for spending on urban infrastructure to be doubled over the next six years.

 Journalists watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow on Thursday. Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

 However, there was no detail on how his spending pledges would be funded.

 Polls suggest Putin, who has dominated Russian politics as president or prime minister for 18 years, is on track to comfortably secure another six-year term.

 He told lawmakers and members of the political elite that Russia had "huge potential" but needed to improve its living standards.

 "We have not reached the necessary level in terms of people's well-being," he said.

 Some 20 million Russians — or almost one-in-seven people — are still living below the poverty line, Putin added, calling it "unacceptable."

 Almost 70 percent of Russians are ready to support Putin in the March 18 election, according to a poll published Thursday by state news agency, TASS.

 There has been little in the way of campaigning, and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been barred from running. He was arrested Jan. 28 moments before a protest march in Moscow. Navalny wants voters to boycott the election, hoping low turnout will take the shine off Putin’s likely win. ||||| President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences

 Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia has developed and is testing a new line of strategic nuclear-capable weapons that would be able to outmanoeuvre US defences, in a possible signal of a new arms race between Moscow and the west.

 Speaking in a nationally televised address to the country’s political elite weeks before the presidential election, Putin showed video and animations of ICBMs, nuclear-powered cruise missiles, underwater drones and other weapons that he said Russia had developed as a result of the US pulling out of the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty signed with the Soviet Union.

 “You didn’t listen to our country then,” Putin said during the speech on Thursday. “Listen to us now.” Some of the weapons were already being tested, he added.

 The existence of several of the weapons systems – like the RS-28 Sarmat, or Satan 2, nuclear missile – were well-known and their tests had been previously reported. What was new was Putin’s portrayal of Russia’s modernising arsenal as an adversarial response to US policy since 2001.

 Play Video 1:04 Putin presents new ballistic rocket, Sarmat - video

 The speech came in the same month that the Pentagon released a new nuclear arms policy, which followed a promise by the US president, Donald Trump, to develop an arsenal “so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression”. The policy envisioned low-yield nuclear weapons on submarine-launched ballistic missiles that could match similar Russian weapons.

 Putin’s message was one of defiance. “I would like to tell those who have been trying to escalate the arms race for the past 15 years, to gain unilateral advantages over Russia, and to impose restrictions and sanctions … The attempt at curbing Russia has failed,” he said.

 His remarks came during a state of the union speech heavy with economic promises for the Russian people and sabre-rattling against the US. It was widely viewed as his first campaign speech for Russia’s presidential elections on 18 March. The Kremlin is primarily concerned with boosting turnout, as Putin is expected to cruise to a fourth term as president.

 Quick guide Hypersonic missiles and the 'doomsday torpedo' Show Hide Hypersonic glide weapons First mooted in the 1960s, hypersonic glide weapons are designed to fly at ultra-high speeds and at much lower altitudes than ballistic missiles, with the idea that they would be effectively undetectable by existing anti-missiles systems. Although the US was believed to be further advanced in its testing, Russia has been working hard on its Yu-74 hypersonic weapon which may become operational as early as 2020. China is among other countries believed to be pursuing the technology. The Russian version – part of a project called Objekt 4202 – was designed to counter both the Nato missile defence shield and the US's Thaad anti-missile system. It could fly from Moscow to London in around 13 minutes, armed with multiple nuclear warheads. One suggestion for delivery is that it may be launched from the new Russian Sarmat intercontinental missile system – due to come into service this year. The Yu-74 is planned to achieve its hypersonic speed, around Mach 10, by using gravity as it falls back to earth. The 'doomsday torpedo' Putin also mentioned a nuclear-armed underwater drone likely to be the Kanyon or Status-6. Described in some places as the Russian ‘doomsday torpedo', its existence was confirmed earlier this year in a draft of the Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review. Reportedly first detected by US intelligence in 2016, the submarine-launched autonomous vehicle can carry a 100 megaton nuclear warhead. It has a range of 6,200 miles, a top speed of over 56 knots and can descend to depths of 3,280 feet.

 There were signs that the authorities wanted to attract extra attention to the speech by moving it from the gilded St George’s Hall at the Kremlin to an exhibition space in central Moscow where video and infographics could be shown.

 The first hour of the speech was conventional, if optimistic. Putin promised to raise life expectancy by 10 years, to increase Russia’s GDP by 50% by 2025 and halve the poverty rate. He said Russia would have to latch on to a wave of technological advances or risk “drowning in that wave”.

 The interactive presentation began with graphs showing birth rates and harvest totals in recent years, but it was mainly used as a platform to show off Russia’s latest weaponry, some of it capable of delivering a nuclear strike anywhere in the world.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The video screen shows the Kinzhal air missile system as Vladimir Putin (right) delivers his annual address. Photograph: Tass/Barcroft Images

 Putin highlighted a test of Russia’s RS-28 Sarmat missile. According to state media, the intercontinental ballistic missile is able to fly 6,800 miles with a payload of 15 warheads, though the actual capabilities of the missile have not been shown. The Russian defence ministry said it had conducted a successful test launch in October, during which the missile had travelled 3,600 miles before hitting a target area in Russia’s far east.

 Putin also said Russia had developed a working laser weapon, a hypersonic missile and a cruise missile powered by a nuclear reactor that could fly indefinitely.

 He said the plane-launched hypersonic missile, called Kinzhal or dagger, could manoeuvre while travelling at more than 10 times the speed of sound, making it “guaranteed to overcome all existing and I think prospective anti-missile systems” and deliver a nuclear strike. Putin claimed it had completed testing and was already in use.

 He also spoke about the RS-26 ballistic missile, Avangard, which Putin said “heads towards its target like a meteorite”. The missile has already raised concerns in the US about its compliance with global arms treaties.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Putin delivers his annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Photograph: Tass/Barcroft Images

 Putin showed several animated videos of prototype weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile that theoretically has a limitless range. He showed it navigating anti-air defences in the Atlantic Ocean before skirting the coast around South America and heading for the California coastline before the video faded to black.

 After each demonstration, the crowd applauded.

 The Pentagon played down Putin’s speech, saying Moscow’s weaponry had already been factored into US assessments. “We’re not surprised by the statements and the American people should rest assured that we are fully prepared,” said spokeswoman Dana White.

 US officials say American missile defence systems are not aimed at Moscow, but are instead designed to defend against threats from Iran, North Korea and other potential adversaries.

 Russia has been aggressively marketing its latest military technology. Its first stealth fighter, the Su-57, was deployed to Syria for combat testing last week. Analysts said the jet’s capabilities were still not clear, and that the deployment could be designed to show the Su-57 programme was moving forward despite time and cost overruns.

 In a nod to public opinion, Putin announced an online contest to name Russia’s new cruise missile and underwater drone.

 Putin has given the constitutionally mandated speech on “the situation in the country” 14 times since he first became president in 2000. He did not do so during the four years he was prime minister.

 His address, which generally lasts around an hour, is given to an audience of lawmakers from the state Duma and federation council, judges, ministers and other members of the political establishment, and generally focuses on domestic issues such as the economy and corruption. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Putin introduced video of a missile launch

 Russia has developed a new array of nuclear weapons that are invincible, according to President Vladimir Putin.

 Mr Putin made the claims as he laid out his key policies for a fourth presidential term, ahead of an election he is expected to win in 17 days' time.

 The weapons he boasted of included a cruise missile that he said could "reach anywhere in the world".

 He said of the West: "They need to take account of a new reality and understand ... [this]... is not a bluff."

 Giving his annual state of the nation speech, Mr Putin used video presentations to showcase the development of two new nuclear delivery systems that he said could evade detection. One video graphic appeared to show missiles raining down on the US state of Florida.

 One system Mr Putin described included a "low-flying, difficult-to-spot cruise missile... with a practically unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path, which can bypass lines of interception and is invincible in the face of all existing and future systems of both missile defence and air defence".

 Another was a submarine-launched, long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

 During the two-hour televised speech to a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, he said the weapons were a response to US development of its missile defence system.

 The US State Department said it was "certainly unfortunate to have watched the video animation that depicted a nuclear attack on the United States" - adding that it was not "the behaviour of a responsible international player".

 Opposition leader barred from vote

 Mr Putin faces seven challengers on 18 March, although none is expected to attract widespread support. The president played no part in a raucous televised debate broadcast on Wednesday that featured the other candidates.

 Absent from the campaign is prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been barred from running and has called on voters to boycott the poll.

 President Putin has so far done little campaigning, and until now has said little about his plans for the next six years.

 Wowing his audience

 By Steven Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow

 Before today, Vladimir Putin had delivered 13 state of the nation addresses. Address Number 14 turned out to be very different from anything that had come before.

 Standing in front of a giant video screen, President Putin showcased Russia's very latest strategic weapons. Like a magician pulling one rabbit after another out of his hat, he wowed his audience with images of cruise missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, underwater drones and supersonic jets.

 Russian MPs and senators applauded the military video show, which dominated the second half of President Putin's speech.

 There was a double message here. Firstly, to the West: don't push us. And, with elections coming up, there was this for the Russian people: Vote for Putin and you'll be voting for national security.

 I suspect the concluding image was designed to reinforce just that: as Vladimir Putin stood to the national anthem, a giant Russian flag appeared on the video screen behind him. It is a message that is likely to strike a chord with many here.

 Fighting poverty

 Mr Putin tailored the first half of his speech towards working Russians and their concerns.

 He pledged to halve poverty in the country within the next six years and said he wanted life-expectancy rates to emulate Japan and France.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption It was Mr Putin's last speech before the election

 "Every person matters to us," he said, adding that he also wanted to increase employment and longevity.

 In 2000 there were 42 million people in Russia living below the poverty line, he noted; today there were 20 million, but this still needed to come down.

 He warned Russians not to take the country's power for granted.

 "Russia is now a leading country with a powerful foreign economic and defence potential," he said.

 "But from the point of view of the extremely important task of ensuring people's quality of life and welfare we, of course, have not achieved the level we require. But we have to do this and will do this," he added to applause.

 Vladimir Putin: Russia's action man president

 Mr Putin also pledged to spend more on roads and reduce accidents; said teachers deserved good salaries and wages; and said there should be better access to both the internet and medical services for people in remote areas.

 How credible are weaponry claims?

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption One of the video graphics appeared to show missiles dropping on the US state of Florida

 Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent

 President Putin's emphasis on a strong Russia modernising its nuclear arsenal is a reflection of similar statements over recent months from his US counterpart Donald Trump.

 In his remarks, Mr Putin highlighted the development of two new nuclear delivery systems, which, he said, could evade US anti-ballistic missile defences.

 This is essentially because neither of them are ballistic missiles, which are fired out of the atmosphere in a high-arcing trajectory.

 One - effectively a very long-range nuclear-tipped torpedo - has been rumoured to be under development since Soviet days but is now seen by US analysts as a credible threat.

 The second system - described by Mr Putin as a cruise missile - looks to be more of a work in progress and may be a kind of very high-speed "hypersonic" system - described by one arms control expert as a "glider on steroids" - that again could evade existing anti-missile defences.

 China and the US are also working on similar systems of their own.

 Technology and security

 Digital growth was also essential, Mr Putin said during his speech. He said he wanted Russia to become one of the world's main hubs for storing and processing big data.

 Image copyright EPA Image caption Graphics - including this one on Russia's working-age population (in millions) - flashed up throughout

 He called for more progress in making robots and artificial intelligence. New talent in technology should be nurtured and foreigners should be encouraged to study in Russia, he said.

 Mr Putin also spoke of Russian operations in Syria - supporting the Assad government's fight against rebels - which, he said, showed off the country's increased defence capabilities.

 Russia recently sent two of its most advanced fighter planes, Su-57s, to Syria, even though they are still undergoing tests.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption There was no confirmation that Russia's new stealth fighters have been used in combat in Syria

 Mr Putin also announced that a bridge to the Crimean peninsula would be open within the next couple of months. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, during Mr Putin's current term in office.

 Russia was safeguarding its interest in the Arctic region by strengthening its military infrastructure in the region, he said. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Vladimir Putin's annual speech to lawmakers Thursday contained what appears to be a jarring threat to the US and the rest of the world: Russia has a new, "invincible" missile that can go anywhere and cannot be stopped, he said. A video graphic behind Putin showed a missile taking off from Russia, zooming across the Atlantic to South America, then turning north toward the US, reports the Washington Post. "I hope everything that has been said today will sober any potential aggressor," Putin said, without naming names. He added that Russia had developed the nuclear-capable weapon, which "missile defenses will be useless against," despite skepticism about Moscow's abilities. "Nobody listened to us," he said, per NBC News. "Well listen to us now." Putin, who asserted that Moscow has "no plans to be an aggressor," also said Russia had a new underwater drone capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, reports the AP. And he declared that any use of nuclear weapons against one of its allies—again, he did not mention specific nations—would be considered a nuclear attack on Russia and that Moscow would respond in kind. All in all, the two-hour speech suggested "a new arms race" between Russia and the West, observes the Guardian. The speech comes less than three weeks before Putin is expected to easily win another six-year term, reports the BBC. He used much of the address to focus on economic reforms, promising among other things to reduce the rate of poverty by half in the next six years.


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– For Julian Assange, there's good news and bad news. The good is that a UN panel has ruled in his favor and found that Britain is essentially keeping him in arbitrary detention, reports the BBC. The bad is that London doesn't care and vows to arrest him if he tries to leave the Ecuadorean embassy, reports Reuters. The developments come after Assange appealed to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to look into his case. The official ruling is to be made public on Friday, but both the BBC and the Guardian say the panel has sided with Assange. The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in the embassy for more than three years, hoping to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face sex-crimes charges. In an earlier tweet, Assange said he would turn himself in to police if the panel ruled against him, reports the AP. "However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me," he wrote. That appears unlikely: A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that the ruling isn't legally binding and that Assange—who also fears extradition to the US over the leaking of military secrets—would be immediately arrested if he tries to leave. WikiLeaks, meanwhile, says it is awaiting confirmation of the news reports about the ruling.

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to media gathered outside the High Court in London. Assange said Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, on WikiLeaks Twitter... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to media gathered outside the High Court in London. Assange said Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, on WikiLeaks Twitter account that he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to media gathered outside the High Court in London. Assange said Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, on WikiLeaks Twitter account that he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to media gathered outside the High Court in London. Assange said Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, on WikiLeaks Twitter... (Associated Press)

 LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention decides that the three years he has spent holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy does not amount to illegal detention.

 Writing on WikiLeaks' Twitter account Wednesday night, Assange said if the U.N. finds he has lost his case against the United Kingdom and Sweden then he will turn himself into police at noon on Friday.

 "However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me," Assange added.

 Assange took refuge in Ecuador's British embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden where two women have accused him of sexual assault. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Is Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorean embassy?

 A UN panel will conclude Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being "arbitrarily detained" in the UK, the Swedish foreign ministry has said.

 Mr Assange, 44, claimed asylum in London's Ecuadorean embassy in 2012. He wants to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape claim, which he denies.

 The Met Police says Mr Assange will be arrested if he leaves the embassy.

 Swedish prosecutors said the UN panel's decision would have "no formal impact" on its ongoing investigation.

 Mr Assange earlier said his passport should be returned and his arrest warrant dropped if the UN panel, due to deliver its findings on Friday, ruled in his favour.

 The Australian was originally arrested in London in 2010 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden over rape and sexual assault claims.

 In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in Knightsbridge after the UK Supreme Court had ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.

 Swedish prosecutors dropped two sex assault claims against Mr Assange last year. However, he still faces the more serious accusation of rape.

 Why is Julian Assange back in the news?

 Who is Julian Assange?

 Timeline of the Julian Assange case

 How unhealthy is living indoors?

 'Avoiding lawful arrest'

 In 2014, Mr Assange complained to the UN that he was being "arbitrarily detained" as he could not leave the embassy without being arrested.

 The application claimed Mr Assange had been "deprived of his liberty in an arbitrary manner for an unacceptable length of time".

 The UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has been investigating the issue.

 The Press Association said key factors in the panel's decision would include the inability of Mr Assange to access political asylum, the fact he has never been charged, and changes to UK law and procedures since he arrived at the embassy.

 Wikileaks earlier tweeted it was waiting for "official confirmation" of the UN panel's decision.

 Downing Street said the panel's ruling would not be legally binding in the UK while a European Arrest Warrant remained in place.

 "We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy," a spokesman said.

 "The UK continues to have a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden."

 The Swedish foreign ministry said in a statement that it noted the UN panel's decision "differs from that of the Swedish authorities".

 The statement added the legal process for Mr Assange's case would be handled in court by Swedish prosecutors.

 Image caption Mr Assange issued his statement on Twitter

 Per Samuelsson, Mr Assange's lawyer, said Swedish authorities would be "morally" wrong to continue the investigation if the UN panel found in his favour.

 "The ball is in Sweden's yard, in the prosecutor's yard. She is not formally bound by the decision by the UN, but morally it is very difficult to go against it."

 The journalist John Pilger, who is a friend of Mr Assange, said "the ball is now at the feet of the British government", whose international legal "obligations" were represented by the UN panel.

 "They did something in terms of supporting the tribunal in all the other celebrated cases, and Assange now joins them because the UN jurists have clearly found this is a case of arbitrary detention," he said.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Assange's supporter and friend Vaughan Smith hopes he will now be freed

 Mr Assange's Wikileaks organisation posted secret American government documents on the internet, and he says Washington could seek his extradition to the US to face espionage charges if he is sent to Sweden.

 In the statement, published earlier by Wikileaks on Twitter, Mr Assange said: "Should the UN announce tomorrow that I have lost my case against the United Kingdom and Sweden I shall exit the embassy at noon on Friday to accept arrest by British police as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal.

 "However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me."

 Last October, Scotland Yard said it would no longer station officers outside the Ecuador embassy following an operation which it said had cost £12.6m. But it said "a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him" would still be deployed.

 Julian Assange: Key dates ||||| Source: Reuters - Thu, 4 Feb 2016 11:47 GMT

 Author: Reuters

 LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Thursday that if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves the Ecuadorian embassy in London he will be arrested.

 The spokesman said that any decision by a United Nations panel that is examining Assange's appeal would not be legally binding and that an arrest warrant for Assange would be put into effect if he left the embassy. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison) ||||| A United Nations panel has decided that Julian Assange’s three-and-a-half years in the Ecuadorian embassy amount to “arbitrary detention”, leading his lawyers to call for the Swedish extradition request to be dropped immediately.

 A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the UN panel, due to publish its findings on Friday, had concluded that Assange was “arbitrarily detained”.

 The WikiLeaks founder sought asylum from Ecuador in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations, which he denies.

 The panel’s findings were disclosed to the Swedish and British governments on 22 January, and will be published on Friday morning. Their judgment is not legally binding but can be used to apply pressure on states in human rights cases.

 Julian Assange's embassy showdown: what it means and what happens next Read more

 Anna Ekberg, spokesperson for the Swedish foreign ministry, said: “The UN working group on arbitrary detention has concluded that Mr Assange is arbitrarily detained. The working group’s view differs from that of the Swedish authorities. We will forward a reply to the working group tomorrow. It will be more clear tomorrow why we reject the working group’s conclusions.”

 Assange’s Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, said earlier that if the working group found in his favour, “there is only one solution for Marianne Ny [the Swedish prosecutor seeking Assange’s extradition], and that is to immediately release him and drop the case”. Samuelson added: “If he is regarded as detained, that means he has served his time, so I see no other option for Sweden but to close the case.”

 Assange’s lawyers demanded assurances from the UK that he would not be arrested and subjected to extradition proceedings to face potential prosecution over WikiLeaks’ publishing activities.

 The British Foreign Office said it would not pre-empt the panel’s findings, but said in a statement: “We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorian embassy.

 “An allegation of rape is still outstanding and a European arrest warrant in place, so the UK continues to have a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden.”

 In a statement issued by WikiLeaks on Twitter, Assange said that if the UN panel rejected his claim, he would voluntarily walk out of the embassy on Friday and accept arrest “as there is no meaningful prospect of further appeal”.

 He added: “However, should I prevail and the state parties be found to have acted unlawfully, I expect the immediate return of my passport and the termination of further attempts to arrest me.”

 Neither Sweden nor the UK will be compelled to take any action, but a source familiar with the working group said that if the governments choose to ignore the decision, it could make it difficult for them in future to bring pressure on other countries over human rights violations.

 Assange’s lawyers had appealed to the UN panel claiming that his stay in the embassy was arbitrary because he had been unable to exercise his right to asylum, arguing: “The only way for Mr Assange to enjoy is right to asylum is to be in detention. This is not a legally acceptable choice.”

 They also argued that UK law had changed since 2012, which meant that if arrested today he would no longer be liable to extradition under the European arrest warrant.

 Melinda Taylor, an Assange legal spokeswoman, said the Australian had not yet been formally informed by the panel of its findings, but “if it finds that the standard for arbitrary detention is met, we would expect his release and compensation”.

 In addition to Sweden dropping the extradition request, she called for the UK to return Assange’s passport and give him assurances that he would not be subject to arrest for a potential further extradition request by the US.

 Assange and WikiLeaks have been the subject of a secret grand jury investigation in Virginia that has been looking into whether to prosecute them over the US cable disclosures, and the Australian fears that he could become immediately subject to a second extradition process even if Sweden drops its inquiry.

 “If one of the orders is that he should be released and his liberty should be assured, we would obviously look to the UK to make sure that it is effective and not illusory, that it’s not just liberty for five seconds, but liberty that is meaningful,” Taylor said.

 British police ended the costly 24-hour guard of the Knightsbridge embassy last October, but the building remains under covert surveillance. A Metropolitan police spokesman said on Thursday: “The operation to arrest Julian Assange does continue and should he leave the embassy the MPS will make every effort to arrest him.”

 Sweden and Ecuador have been locked in lengthy negotiations over arrangements to allow Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange in the embassy. Ecuador’s foreign minister said last month that the country would allow access for questioning, but Sweden later said its request had been rejected “on formal grounds”. It is considering whether to submit a fresh request.

 Samuelson said his client still hoped to clear his name. “This does not mean that the question of interrogation will be over. We still want an interrogation to take place so that Mr Assange can clear his name and show everyone that he is innocent.

 “The difference is that he will no longer be in custody in absentia and thus be able to use his asylum outside of the embassy. If Assange is regarded as detained he has already served the time so to speak so Marianne Ny should drop the case altogether.”

 Last August Sweden dropped part of its investigation into Assange after the statute of limitations on allegations of sexual assault expired. It is still seeking to interview him on one outstanding allegation of rape. The accusations were made by two women in Sweden in 2010, but no charges have been brought.

 Timeline: Julian Assange and Sweden's prosecutors Read more

 At the Ecuadorian embassy, the WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said that if Assange’s claim through the UN was successful he planned to appear by videolink at a press conference in west London on Friday. “If he loses, as he says, he’ll just walk out of there,” Hrafnsson told the Guardian, as he left the embassy building after around three hours of discussions with Assange.

 “The process has been going on for 18 months, the UK government has made submissions to the working group so it has accepted its authority,” Hrafnsson said. “What signal does it send that the UK and Sweden would ignore this UN body? It would completely destroy its authority. Are they willing to set that precedent? Egypt has not accepted its findings with regard to the detention of its former president [Mohammed Morsi] - is that the standard the UK wants to hold?”

 Assange’s health is fragile from the effects of living inside for more than three years but Hrafnsson said he was busily preparing for Friday. “However the decision goes, it is an extremely important moment for him. Hopefully it’s the end of the road.” |||||


Summarize this article:

Mitchell Nance, judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit's 2nd Division, which is Family Court, was first appointed to the position in 2004 after being elected in 2000 as a district court judge.

 GDT File Photo ||||| Judge Mitchell Nance says he won't hear anymore adoption cases that involve gay adults.https://t.co/0LhGamWtV5 — WKYT (@WKYT) April 28, 2017

 Two years after a Kentucky county clerk stirred national attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a family court judge in the same state announced he will no longer hear adoption cases involving gay parents, calling his stance on the issue “a matter of conscience.”

 Judge W. Mitchell Nance, who sits in Barren and Metcalfe counties in Kentucky, issued an order Thursday saying he believes that allowing a “practicing homosexual” to adopt would “under no circumstance” promote the best interest of the child, he wrote in the order obtained by The Washington Post.

 The judge disqualified himself from any adoption cases involving gay couples, citing judicial ethics codes requiring that judges recuse themselves whenever they have a “personal bias or prejudice” concerning a case. Nance’s “conscientious objection” to the concept of gay parents adopting children constitutes such a bias, he argued.

 The announcement garnered support from some conservative groups, while also spurring intense criticism from some lawyers and judicial ethics experts who viewed the blanket statement as discriminatory, and a sign that Nance is not fit to fulfill his duties as a judge. Kentucky state law permits gay couples to adopt children, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that all states must allow same-sex marriage.

 That ruling came in four cases consolidated as Obergefell et al. v Hodges, one of which specifically involved a couple who wanted to adopt but was barred from doing so because Michigan banned same-sex marriage and adoption by unmarried couples.

 Nance’s recusal drew some comparisons to the case of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed after she refused in the face of multiple court orders to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying she couldn’t issue the licenses because her name was on them, and it violated her religious beliefs. Eventually, deputies in her office began issuing licenses. Kentucky’s governor and General Assembly would later remove the name of clerks from the marriage licenses.

 Reached by phone Sunday night, Nance told The Post he stood by his order, “based on the law, based on my conscience,” and to “minimize any disruption in the litigation,” he said. He declined to comment further on the order or calls from the public for him to resign. But he gave no indication that he would be stepping down.

 Nance told the Glasgow Daily Times he issued the order so there wouldn’t be a lag if an adoption case was filed in his court concerning adoption by gay parents. Because Nance’s court, the 43rd Circuit Court, has two divisions, the judge of the other division will hear any adoption cases affected by Nance’s recusal. Gay parents seeking to adopt a child in the affected counties should not expect a legal delay as a result of Nance’s decision.

 “I don’t have any plans to recuse myself from any so it should not affect the ability of any same sex couples to adopt in Barren or Metcalfe counties,” the judge of the other division, Judge John T. Alexander, told the Glasgow Daily Times.

 Charles Geyh, an Indiana University law school professor who specializes in judicial ethics, told the Louisville Courier-Journal that by issuing such an order, Nance could be violating his oath to uphold the law, “which by virtue of the equal protection clause does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation,” he said.

 “If he is unable to set his personal views aside and uphold the law — not just in an isolated case, but with respect to an entire class of litigant because he finds them odious — it leads me to wonder whether he is able to honor his oath,” Geyh said.

 Chris Hartman, Kentucky Fairness Campaign director, told the Glasgow Daily Times Nance’s decision not to hear adoption cases for gay parents is “clear discrimination.”

 “And if Judge Nance can’t perform the basic functions of his job, which are to deliver impartiality, fairness and justice to all families in his courtroom, then he shouldn’t be a judge,” Hartman said.

 Yet other groups, such as the Family Foundation, a Lexington-based group that promotes “family-first conservatism,” expressed their support of the judge’s decision to recuse himself.

 “If we are going to let liberal judges write their personal biases and prejudices into law, as we have done on issues of marriage and sexuality,” spokesman Martin Cothran said in a statement on the group’s Facebook page, “then, in the interest of fairness, we are going to have to allow judges with different views to at least recuse themselves from such cases.”

 Cothran added that he was unaware of any state law that would require a judge to place a child in a home with same-sex parents, prompting him to wonder why judges were being held to such a standard.

 “When adoption agencies abandon the idea that it is in the best interest of a child to grow up with both a mother and father, people can’t expect judges who do believe that to be forced to bow the knee,” said Cothran. “Judges have a right of conscience like everyone else.”

 [‘Mexican heritage’ judge bashed by Trump will oversee deported ‘dreamer’ case]

 Lawyers told the Courier-Journal that Nance should now also have to recuse himself from any legal cases involving gay people, including divorces involving a spouse coming out as gay. Nance told the newspaper he understands that gay and lesbian people would have reservations about appearing before him.

 Nance, who was first assigned to family court in 2004, performs marriages, but has never been asked to marry a gay couple, he told the Glasgow Daily Times. If he were asked, Nance said he would decline.

 He told the Glasgow Daily Times he could recall being assigned to two adoption cases involving gay parents, including one from which he recused himself several years ago. About two to three months ago, Nance was assigned to a case in Metcalfe County involving a same-sex couple seeking to adopt. Nance said he ruled in favor of the parents, but decided then he should take action to recuse himself permanently from hearing such cases.

 “It made the matter come to my awareness more directly, I would say,” Nance told the Glasgow Daily Times. “I felt it would be more prudent to go ahead and address it,” he said. |||||

– Kentucky has another high-profile official taking a stand against homosexuality. Two years after county clerk Kim Davis made headlines by refusing to issue marriage licences to gay couples, a judge has declared that he won't preside over adoption cases involving gay parents. Judge Mitchell Nance announced last week that he would recuse himself from such cases because of his "conscientious objection to the concept of adoption of a child by a practicing homosexual," reports the Glasgow Daily Times. The move shouldn't have too much of a practical effect: Nance's 43rd Circuit Court has two divisions, and the judge who presides over the other division will handle all the gay-adoption cases. Nance says he has no choice because his personal objection constitutes a bias that requires him to recuse himself, per the Washington Post. Nance's decision has set off a debate similar to the one that arose when Davis made her own controversial announcement. Two quotes illustrate the opposite sides: Pro-Nance: "When adoption agencies abandon the idea that it is in the best interest of a child to grow up with both a mother and a father, people can't expect judges who do believe that to be forced to bow the knee," says Family Foundation spokesman Martin Cothran. "Judges have a right of conscience like everyone else.” Anti-Nance: If he "can't perform the basic functions of his job, which are to deliver impartiality, fairness and justice to all families in his courtroom, then he shouldn't be a judge," says Kentucky Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman.


Article:
“Restoring opportunity for all has to be our priority, making sure the economy rewards hard work for every single American. Because when women succeed, America succeeds,” Obama said in a speech to mark the signing of the order.

 “We are going to work to make sure that our daughters have the same chance to pursue their dreams as our sons,” he added, urging businesses and the government to do more to hire women and achieve gender equality in a bid to lift families out of poverty and allocate more resources to child care, college tuition and retirement savings.

 “We don’t have second-class citizens in this country,” Obama said.

 Tuesday’s signing coincides with National Equal Pay Day, serving as a reminder that more than 50 years after the Equal Pay Act was made law, women still earn less then men. On average, women earn only about 77 cents on the dollar compared with men. African-American women and Latinas take home even less, just 64 cents and 54 cents, respectively, for every dollar earned by white men, according to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Obama called the numbers “embarrassing,” and “wrong.”

 “It is good to move the ball forward on improving our equal pay policies,” Fatima Graves, NWLC vice president for education and employment, told Al Jazeera. “It’s important because right now workers are left in the dark about wage disparity information.”

 “Penalizing pay secrecy is an important step that sends a strong message,” she said. But, Graves added, Obama’s order, which affects only federal contractors and does nothing to protect female employees in the private sector, “doesn’t complete the job.”

 “What we really need is for Congress to pass the Fair Paycheck Act which would get at all workers,” she said.

 A Senate vote on that act, slated for Tuesday, would extend the order’s requirements to most other employers. However, the bill has already failed to pass twice, despite evidence that pay transparency can reduce the gender wage gap. In the federal government, for example, where pay rates are publicly available, the gender wage gap is much smaller than in the private sector, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. ||||| President Obama will take two executive actions Tuesday aimed at narrowing the wage gap between men and women, forcing federal contractors to let their workers discuss their earnings with one another and to disclose more information about what their employees earn.

 The push by Obama, who also is commemorating Tuesday as “National Equal Pay Day,” is part of a broader effort by Democrats to increase turnout among female voters during the 2014 midterm elections, which party strategists consider critical to limiting Republican gains this fall.

 One of the new measures is an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their salaries with one another. The other is a presidential memorandum ordering new rules for contractors to file data with the federal government showing how they compensate employees, including by sex and race.

 White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Monday that the two policies aim to address the “pay secrecy” that often keeps workers from seeking more equitable compensation.

 “Unfortunately, pay inequity is a real and persistent problem that continues to shortchange women, their families and our economy as a whole,” she told reporters in a conference call.

 Senate Democrats are hoping paycheck policy will be a smart play by focusing attention on the fight for equal pay. However, opponents say it's less about the wage gap and more about politics. (Pamela Kirkland/The Washington Post)

 The first bill that Obama signed into law in 2009 was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gave employees more time to file discrimination claims. Jarrett said the administration is disappointed that Republicans in Congress have opposed another bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which includes reforms like the ones that Obama is applying to federal contractors.

 But Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, wrote in an e-mail that the Paycheck Fairness Act is “a desperate political ploy and Democrats are cynically betting that Americans aren’t smart enough to know better.”

 Kukowski said the proposal “cuts flexibility in the workplace for working moms and ends merit pay that rewards good work — the very things that are important to us.”

 Obama and his aides often say that women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn, which compares the annual earnings of women working full-time jobs over the course of a year with the earnings of men working the same amount of time. Some academics argue that the gap between the sexes is smaller if you account for a number of variables, including an employee’s length of time in the workforce, specific occupation and education level.

 Even the most conservative estimates, however, suggest that women earn 5 to 12 percent less for doing similar jobs as men.

 “I don’t think there’s a better figure,” said Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, who also spoke to reporters on the conference call with Jarrett. “What we do know is there are more things we can do to close that gap.”

 Fatima Goss Graves, vice president for education and employment at the National Women’s Law Center, said in an interview that the new requirements could spur companies to take voluntary measures to equalize salaries.

 View Graphic Women in the United States earn about 81 cents for every dollar that a man earns.

 “One of the problems in the law is pay discrimination goes undetected,” she said, “This is going to put employers in a place where they’re going to take the right steps, and look for pay disparities and correct them immediately.”

 One of the reasons women continue to earn less than men on average is that they work in lower-paying fields, Goss Graves said. Roughly two-thirds of all workers who were paid minimum wage or less in 2013 were female, she added.

 “A big part of the wage gap stems from the fact that women-dominated jobs simply pay less,” she said.

 The White House itself is not immune to inequalities: An analysis by the conservative American Enterprise Institute found that the median salary for female White House staffers was 12 percent lower than that for male staffers.

 White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that the number “is better than the national average” and said women who work the same jobs as men at the White House are paid the same. He said the two deputy chiefs of staff at the White House — one man and one woman — earn the same salary, while more than half of 16 department heads are women.

 “What I can tell you is that we have as an institution here have aggressively addressed this challenge,” he said.

 Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of Michigan at Flint who wrote the AEI study, said the wage gap might reflect women and men having different roles within the White House, rather than discrimination.

 A senior administration official said the White House makes it a priority to hire women and diverse talent at all levels.

 “While we still have work to do, we believe that our focus on hiring more young talent, especially women, to work in the White House is the right thing to do to build a strong and diverse staff that can advance in this and future administrations,” said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss personnel matters.

 “We have also made an effort to advance women through the ranks within the White House, as shown by the number of women in senior positions whom have been promoted from within,” the official said. |||||Summary:

– On National Equal Pay Day, President Obama is taking action to fight the gender wage gap among federal contractors. Today, he signed an executive order requiring the companies to publish their wage data by gender and race, thus pushing them to adhere to laws on equal pay, al Jazeera America reports."Penalizing pay secrecy is an important step that sends a strong message," says a VP for the National Women's Law Center. The move doesn't apply to private companies, though a Senate vote today could help change that. But the bill in question has twice failed to get through Congress, al Jazeera notes. Meanwhile, a second executive order today bars federal contractors from retaliating against workers who exchange information on their salaries, the Washington Post notes. "Pay inequity is a real and persistent problem that continues to shortchange women, their families, and our economy as a whole," says Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Hate Star Wars spoilers? Click away now ... because five more Star Wars films are coming in what Entertainment Weekly calls "Disney’s not-quite-top-secret plan." Without further ado: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. With a cast including Felicity Jones and Diego Luna, it chronicles a group of Rebel fighters trying to find plans for the Death Star before it's too late. Coming Dec. 16, 2016. Star Wars: Episode VIII. Apparently starring Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac, it's due on May 26, 2017. Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo (tentative title). Written by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, it will chronicle Han Solo's rise to full-fledged smuggler and scoundrel. Coming in 2019. Star Wars: Episode IX and Star Wars Anthology: Boba Fett are scheduled for 2019 and 2020, respectively, but little else is known. Not too shabby, considering it took 38 years to produce the first seven Star Wars films. As the Independent puts it, "Start sourcing the ultimate Star Wars costume now, because less than a year is not long to wait." (See how George Lucas walked back his "epic slam" on Disney.)

The Force Awakens may have been released before Christmas but Star Wars mania is still going strong.

 Fortunately, a new movie has been scheduled every year for at least the next five years, including spin-off films focusing on the lead characters’ backstories.

 Dates are subject to change but for now, you can pencil the below into your diary and look forward to more lightsaber action.

 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, 16 December 2016

 Directed by Garth Edwards, this movie is set after the foundation of the Galactic Empire, when a “wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission”. They must steal plans for the Death Star before it is used to strengthen the Emperor’s rule.

 Stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed and more.

 Star Wars Episode VIII, 15 December 2017

 Directed and written by Rian Johnson and set to star many of The Force Awakens cast from Daisy Ridley to Mark Hamill. No synopsis yet but long-serving Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan promises that Johnson is “going to make some weird thing”. The good kind, hopefully.

 Star Wars Anthology: Hans Solo, 25 May 2018

 Just a working title at this stage, luckily, as it’s rubbish. The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller are directing, with Lawrence and Jon Kasdan writing. The cast is yet to be announced, but this film will see fans learn how young Han Solo became who he was when Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first met him in the cantina at Mos Eisley.

 Star Wars Episode IX, 2019

 No official release date for this one yet but Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow is directing so expect it to be epic in scale. Rion Johnson is the man with the pen again, so here’s hoping everyone enjoys Episode VIII enough to want more from him.

 Star Wars Anthology: Boba Fett, 2020

 This is the vaguest of the lot - all we know is that it’s reportedly arriving sometime in 2020. Josh Trank was once on board to direct but has since abandoned spaceship.

 Start sourcing the ultimate Star Wars costume now, because less than a year is not long to wait, especially as it’s been 32 years since Return of the Jedi. ||||| You just saw The Force Awakens and want more next-gen Star Wars. Well, you’re going to get more. A lot more. Regularly and steadily, for many years to come. But when, specifically, will each new title be released? Below is Disney’s not-quite-top-secret plan. Obviously, these dates are subject to change. Thankfully, no Bothans died to bring us this information …

 Director: Gareth Edwards

 Written by: Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz

 Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, and Alan Tudyk

 Logline: Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor’s rule.

 Release: Dec. 16, 2016

 (So, yes, a long full year. But given we had to wait a decade for The Force Awakens — or, depending on your feelings about the prequels, 32 years since Return of the Jedi — sitting back for just one year doesn’t seem all that bad …)

 RELATED: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: An Exclusive EW Gallery of New Photos

 Written and directed by Rian Johnson

 Starring: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac (reportedly)

 Release: Dec. 15, 2017 (pushed back seven months from its original release date of May, 2017)

 Logline: Unknown

 (working title)

 Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

 Written by: Lawrence and Jon Kasdan

 Starring: Not yet announced

 Logline: How young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.

 Release: May 25th, 2018

 RELATED: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A collection of cameos and Easter eggs

 Director: Colin Trevorrow

 Writer: Rian Johnson

 Starring: Not yet announced

 Logline: Unknown

 Release: 2019

 Director: Not yet announced

 Writer: Not yet announced

 Starring: Not yet announced

 Logline: Unknown

 Release: 2020 (reportedly)

 So if all this goes according to plan, we’ll get five Star Wars films in four years … after getting “only” seven Star Wars films over 38 years. Not bad!

 This post has been updated with new release date information since its original publication. |||||


News article:

Relocation of endangered animals carries risks but loss of half of them is highly unusual

 Eight out of 14 critically endangered black rhinos have died after being moved to a reserve in southern Kenya, wildlife officials have revealed, in what one conservationist described as “a complete disaster”.

 Preliminary investigations pointed to salt poisoning as the rhinos tried to adapt to saltier water in their new home, the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said in a statement. It suspended the moving of other rhinos and said the surviving ones were being closely monitored.

 Last male northern white rhino is put down Read more

 Save the Rhino estimates there are fewer than 5,500 black rhinos in the world, all of them in Africa, while Kenya’s black rhino population stands at 750, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

 Losing the rhinos was “a complete disaster”, the prominent Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu, of WildlifeDirect, told the Associated Press.

 Cathy Dean, chief executive of Save the Rhino, said she and international colleagues were shocked and deeply saddened.

 She called for external experts to be called in to carry out a thorough investigation into what went wrong, with the findings published in full.

 Dean said the scale of the deaths from the translocation was greater than rhino fatalities caused by poaching so far this year in Kenya.

 “It’s an absolute tragedy to lose seven [now eight] animals in this way,” Dean said. “The most important thing is for Kenya to do a proper inquiry and investigation into what went wrong. For that to happen the Kenya Wildlife Service needs to bring in external vets and translocation specialists from other countries - Namibia, for example.”

 The relocation of endangered animals – known as translocation – involves putting them to sleep for the journey and then reviving them in a process that carries risks. But the loss of half of them is highly unusual.

 The black rhinos were moved from the Nairobi and Lake Nakuru national parks to a new sanctuary created in Tsavo East national park in an operation announced by Najib Balala, the Kenyan tourism minister and carried out in collaboration with WWF Kenya.

 In a statement the ministry said its preliminary investigations suggested the rhinos had died of salt poisoning as they tried to adapt to saltier water in their new home. It suspended the ongoing move of other rhinos and said the surviving ones were being closely monitored.

 “The eight dead rhinos were among those that had been moved to the sanctuary in an initiative to start a new population in line with the National Rhino Conservation and Management Strategy,” the ministry said. “This kind of mortality rate is unprecedented in Kenya Wildlife Service operations.”

 “A total of 14 rhinos had been planned to be translocated.

 It was the first time since the 1990s that black rhinos had been moved to Tsavo East, which originally had a population of nearly 2,000, according to Save the Rhino, but now has between 10 and 20.

 Kahumbu said officials must take responsibility and explain what went wrong. “Rhinos have died. We have to say it openly when it happens, not a week later or a month later,” she said. “Something must have gone wrong, and we want to know what it is.”

 Kenya wants to increase its black rhino population to 2,000 by creating populations in areas that provide the right habitat for the animals to thrive.

 Dean said translocation was not as common in Kenya as in other southern African countries, such as Namibia.

 “In Kenya, they do it every three to four years, whereas other countries are doing them every year,” she said.

 “There needs to be a postmortem and we need to look at the whole protocol for translocation.”

 The ministry said it had invited an external expert from South Africa to join its investigation and if negligence was found to be a contributory factor disciplinary action would be taken.

 “We will make the investigation results public as soon as we receive them,” the statement said.

 According to KWS figures, nine rhinos were killed in Kenya last year. In May, three more were shot dead inside a specially protected sanctuary in northern Kenya and had their horns removed. In March, the last male northern white rhino on the planet, an older bull named Sudan, was put down by Kenyan vets after becoming ill. ||||| FILE- In this file photo taken on Saturday, April 30, 2005, Kenya Wildlife Services wardens hold a fully grown 30 year old female black Rhino, after it was darted at Nairobi National Park. A Kenyan wildlife... (Associated Press)

 FILE- In this file photo taken on Saturday, April 30, 2005, Kenya Wildlife Services wardens hold a fully grown 30 year old female black Rhino, after it was darted at Nairobi National Park. A Kenyan wildlife official on Friday, July 13, 2018 says seven critically endangered black rhinos are dead following... (Associated Press)

 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Eight critically endangered black rhinos are dead in Kenya after wildlife workers moved them from the capital to a new national park, the government said Friday, calling the toll "unprecedented" in more than a decade of such transfers.

 Preliminary investigations point to salt poisoning as the rhinos tried to adapt to saltier water in their new home, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said in a statement, describing how the animals likely became dehydrated and drank more salty water in a fatal cycle.

 The ministry suspended the ongoing move of rhinos and said the surviving ones in the new park were being closely monitored.

 The loss is "a complete disaster," said prominent Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu of WildlifeDirect.

 Conservationists in Africa have been working hard to protect the black rhino sub-species from poachers targeting them for their horns to supply an illegal Asian market.

 In moving a group of 11 rhinos to the newly created Tsavo East National Park from Nairobi last month, the Kenya Wildlife Service said it hoped to boost the population there. The government agency has not said how the rhinos died. Fourteen of the animals were to be moved in all.

 "Disciplinary action will definitely be taken" if an investigation into the deaths indicates negligence by agency staff, the wildlife ministry said.

 "Moving rhinos is complicated, akin to moving gold bullion, it requires extremely careful planning and security due to the value of these rare animals," Kahumbu said in a statement. "Rhino translocations also have major welfare considerations and I dread to think of the suffering that these poor animals endured before they died."

 Transporting wildlife is a strategy used by conservationists to help build up, or even bring back, animal populations. In May, six black rhinos were moved from South Africa to Chad, restoring the species to the country in north-central Africa nearly half a century after it was wiped out there.

 Kenya transported 149 rhinos between 2005 and 2017 with eight deaths, the wildlife ministry said.

 According to WWF, black rhino populations declined dramatically in the 20th century, mostly at the hands of European hunters and settlers. Between 1960 and 1995 numbers dropped by 98 percent, to fewer than 2,500.

 Since then the species has rebounded, although it remains extremely threatened. In addition to poaching the animals also face habitat loss.

 African Parks, a Johannesburg-based conservation group, said earlier this year that there are fewer than 25,000 rhinos in the African wild, of which about 20 percent are black rhinos and the rest white rhinos.

 In another major setback for conservation, the last remaining male northern white rhino on the planet died in March in Kenya, leaving conservationists struggling to save that sub-species using in vitro fertilization.

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What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Eight endangered rhinos have died after a move to a new park in Kenya. Per the AP, the black rhinos died in what Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu calls "a complete disaster" after they were relocated from two locations to Tsavo East National Park last month. Officials suspect salt poisoning as the cause, pointing to higher salinity in water sources in their new home. When the saltier water made the rhinos thirsty, they likely drank even more, possibly leading to their deaths, the country's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said in a statement. The rhinos were among 11 moved to the park, and officials said the surviving animals are being closely monitored. The planned relocation of other rhinos to the park has been suspended. As the Guardian notes, the Save the Rhino organization estimates the total world population of black rhinos at around 5,500. The species is targeted by poachers who aim to collect their horns for the black market in Asia. Moving endangered animals from one sanctuary to another is called translocation and is done in hopes of establishing healthy populations in new areas. While deaths can and do occur with such moves, officials say a death rate of this magnitude is uncommon. Kenyan wildlife officials said the results of an investigation into the deaths would be made public as soon as it concludes.