Julian French.

Moscow, Russia. The Moscow River flows through this ancient seat of Russian power like a timeless reminder of a timeless country and its seemingly endless space. The Moscow European Security Conference at which I today spoke with Russia’s Foreign and Defence Ministers is a jewel in the crown of Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

Now, I am no Russophobe. Indeed, as a student of Russian history my respect for this immense country is great. And, seen from Moscow it is very easy to see just how Russians see their place in Europe and Europe’s place in Russia. And yet listening to several of today’s speeches I was reminded of a nineteenth century Russian Prime Minister Gorschakov who once described Europe as a peninsula stuck on the end of Russia.

In other words what happened in Europe only did so in the context of Russia. That is not how Europe works today if it ever did. Russian concerns must of course be treated with respect but I fear that Moscow is about to miss a great opportunity to influence a Europe more in flux than at any time since the end of the Cold War.

The day has been dominated by what for most Europeans and North Americans are yesterday’s issues; NATO enlargement, the defunct Conventional Forces Europe treaty and that old favorite ballistic missile defense. What has surprised me is the extent to which Moscow obsesses over American plans for a limited NATO missile defense.

There is a very genuine and heartfelt belief in Moscow that plans for BMD are the thin end of a wedge that could in time threaten Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Instead Russia should focus on two things. First, the changing power relations in Europe. When the Euro-zone core deepens political relations relationships with and between Europe’s new peripheral powers- Britain, the Nordic states, Russia and Turkey -will also change.

Indeed, their interests will tend to align beyond existing institutional boundaries. Second, emerging security challenges and threats should be the stuff of Russia’s European and Euro-Atlantic strategy rather than trying to preserve mutually assured destruction in Europe. MAD belongs to Europe’s last century not this one.

To a large extent Prime Minister Gorschakov was right; Europe is indeed a peninsula stuck on the end of Russia. However, given the globalized and globalizing context of contemporary security Russia is a European power and together we are all ever more a peninsula stuck on the end of Asia. Russia is missing a fundamental strategic point – if Russia wants to fashion a single European security space it needs to promote a new security agenda and soon.

By Michael Krepon.

On April 24th, the Chairman of India’s National Security Advisory Board, Shyam Saran, delivered an important address in New Delhi affirming the credibility of India’s nuclear deterrent. Mr. Saran has over two decades of close engagement on strategic matters, including time spent as Foreign Secretary and Special Envoy dealing with the US-India civil-nuclear agreement. What he said, speaking in his personal capacity, bears close scrutiny.

The tone of these remarks is defensive at the outset, reflecting domestic criticisms of the pace of Indian strategic modernization programs. Mr. Saran also takes aim at US, Pakistani, and Chinese analysts who maintain that India sought the Bomb for reasons of status rather than national security. He seeks to set the record straight, making significant observations and recommendations in the process. Here are a few passages:

Chinese assistance to Pakistan’s strategic programme continues apace. [Note: unless Mr. Saran is referring to China's help with Pakistan's nuclear power sector, this is especially noteworthy.]

Pakistan is the only country where nuclear assets are under the command and control of the military and it is the military’s perceptions and ambitions which govern the development, deployment and use of these weapons. This is a dangerous situation precisely because the military’s perceptions are not fully anchored in a larger national political and economic narrative. The pursuit of a more powerful, more effective, and more sophisticated nuclear arsenal, dictated by the Pakistani military, may run in parallel with a steadily deteriorating political, social and economic environment. Would it be possible to island an efficiently managed and sophisticated nuclear arsenal amidst an increasingly dysfunctional polity? There is an air of unreality about the often adulatory remarks about the Pakistani military’s stewardship of the country’s military assets.

What Pakistan is signaling to India and to the world is that India should not contemplate retaliation even if there is another Mumbai because Pakistan has lowered the threshold of nuclear use to the theatre level. This is nothing short of nuclear blackmail, no different from the irresponsible behavior one witnesses in North Korea. It deserves equal condemnation by the international community because it is not just a threat to India but to international peace and security. Should the international community countenance a license to aid and abet terrorism by a state holding out a threat of nuclear war?

Mr. Saran argues that strategic misperceptions regarding the state of India’s nuclear deterrent and the reasons for it can be dangerous. His public remarks, which include helpful clarifications on steps taken to assure India’s second strike capabilities, may signal more to come. He concludes that, “The secrecy which surrounds our nuclear programme… is now counter-productive,” adding,

I would hope that the Government makes public its nuclear doctrine and releases data regularly on what steps have been taken and are being taken to put the requirements of doctrine in place. It is not necessary to share operational details but an overall survey such as an annual Strategic Posture Review, should be shared with the citizens of this country who, after all, pay for the security which the deterrent is supposed to provide for them.

Pakistani authorities have also been close-lipped about their strategic programs and requirements. The people of Pakistan, like those in India, have been in the dark regarding the size and costs of their nuclear deterrent. Would more openness be helpful, or would it add even more impetus to the nuclear competition in southern Asia? This could go either way. It is clear, however, that the absence of disclosure hasn’t slowed down the competition.

By Melanie Nathan.

By Jaime Ortega.

Tremors have been felt all across Russia and in Europe, following a major 8.2 earthquake in the Sakhalin region. Panicking Muscovites began calling security services, and some decided to leave their homes.

The residents informed security services of vibration and tremors that caused furniture and kitchen utensils to move.

Moscow residents wrote on Twitter about the tremors: “wasn’t really strong, but things hanging on the walls were shaking,” “the fourteenth floor of the Smolensky Passage [a large market in the city center] was noticeably shaking!” and “a house was shaking in the center of Moscow on Tverskaya street.”

“The aftershocks occurred in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, in Europe – for instance, in Romania. Almost the entire continent was shaken,” Anatoly Tsygankov, the head of the Situation Center for Agency of Hydrometeorological and Environmental monitoring told Interfax news agency.

An employee at news website NEWSru.com recounted the Moscow tremor: “I have a flat on the 7th floor. At 9:43am I was sitting at my desk in front of the computer when the desk started shaking. We have a metro station underground, so I thought that something happened there. But the vibrations continued, and it became clear that everything was shaking like during an earthquake.”

The witness says there were at least three tremors; two strong ones, and another, weaker one. Then he started calling Emergency. When the operator answered, the reporter heard someone telling another operator their address, and he understood that the vibrations were happening all over Moscow.

Marina Kolomiyets, spokeswoman for Obninsk’s seismic station of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the epicenter was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan, and was 130 kilometres away from the nearest village. She said the quake registered 8.0 on the Richter scale.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 8.3. The epicenter was in the Kuril-Kamchatka arc, one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

Emergency agencies in the Far East issued a tsunami warning for Sakhalin and the Kuril islands, but lifted it soon afterwards. Kolomiyets said the earthquake originated 600 kilometres under the sea bed and with the tremors so far down they have the potential to spread quite far.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said they have not recorded any casualties or damage from the quake.

A big aftershock came about nine hours after the first quake. The Russian Academy of Sciences measured it at 7.0, while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at magnitude 6.8.

Russian news agencies reported that residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Okhotsk Sea felt the first quake for about five minutes. Residents ran out of the buildings. School children were evacuated.

Felt in California

The magnitude-5.7 quake broke dishes and shook mirrors when it struck at 8:47 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

It was centered near Greenville, about 25 miles southwest of Susanville in far northeastern California, said Rafael Abreu, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colo.

There have been several aftershocks, including a magnitude 4.9 that struck early Friday morning.

Slight damage has been reported including objects falling from shelves and dishes rattled or broken, according to a report from the National Weather Service.

Truman also based his decision on the abstract notion that Israelis and Americans shared basic beliefs rooted in liberty, democracy, and Judeo-Christian values. His strong religious impulse resonated with many Christian Americans who saw Israel’s rebirth as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. For many Christian Americans, supporting Israel has deepened their physical connection to the Holy Land. Early U.S. support for Israel was also built on the idea of a small democracy struggling for survival against the odds, all while trying to absorb hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Many Americans glimpsed themselves and the American pioneer spirit in Israel’s struggle for independence and survival. Israeli interlocutors tended to speak English well, were highly educated, and espoused a commitment to Western liberal and democratic ideals.

          Truman’s recognition of Israel was a historic moment, but the first decade of U.S. – Israel ties tends to evoke bitter memories for many Israelis. After recognizing Israel, the United States remained aloof. The U.S. instinct was to mediate the Arab-Israeli conflict rather than the take sides. Under the Tripartite Agreement of 1950, the United States, France, Britain agreed to limit arms sales to all countries in the region so as to prevent an arms race from breaking out. Washington’s leading strategic thinkers successfully argued that a close relationship with Israel endangered U.S. relations with oil-rich Arab states and could strengthen the Soviet foothold in the region.

Although strategic ties were slow to take root, the 1950′s and early 1960′s were crucial years when it came to building cultural ties and the political pillar of U.S. Israeli relations. The discourses that developed during this time shaped the prevailing U.S. view of Israel for the coming decades and gave the partnership a deep political-cultural foundation. On the most basic level, anti-Semitism, which was a common feature of pre-World War II U.S. society and politics, declined dramatically after the war. AS one scholar noted, the decline of anti-Semitism in the United States helped transform Jews from “outsiders” to “insiders,” which encouraged political acceptance of Israel.

BUILDING THE POLITICAL FOUNDATION

Growing Christian affinity eventually helped nurture greater bipartisan political support for Israel. Although Democrats had largely been the champions of strong U.S. – Israeli ties during the first two decades, Republicans slowly began embracing the bilateral partnership as well. By the 1980 elections, both the Democratic and Republican platforms were highlighting Israel’s importance to the United States. With anti-communism and the Cold War at the center of his worldview, President Ronald Reagan viewed Israel as a vital ally and helped consolidate national bipartisan support for a strong U.S. Israeli partnership. Even more, President Reagan helped accelerate a process whereby Americans increasingly defined support for Israel as a “moral obligation” for the United States.

The American Christian embrace of Israel corresponded with the rise of evangelical Protestant churches and the decline in membership in the mainline Protestant denominations, which historically have been openly critical of Israel and its politics. Over time evangelical Christian support grew and was based on the theological notion that a Jewish return to the Land of Israel was necessary for the Second Coming. Spiritual ties complemented the notion that Israel and the United States share common enemies, from communism during the Cold War to Islamic radicalism after September 11, 2001, which further deepened the strong affinity that many Christian Zionists feel for Israel.

          Perhaps partially in recognition of these shows of Israeli strength and usefulness, President John F. Kennedy introduced an element of warmth and commitment that had been lacking in high-level U.S. -Israeli relations. Until Kennedy, the U.S. government valued stability in the Middle East above all else. It feared that military aid to Israel would spark a regional arms race that could give the Soviet Union more regional leverage. The United States repeatedly turned down Israeli requests for more sophisticated weapons in the name of parity between Israel and its Arab enemies. That all changed in 1962, when Kennedy made a pivotal decision to sell Israel Hawk antiaircraft missiles, which became a crucial component of Israel’s defensive structure.

  As Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman interpret the policy shift, Kennedy had figured out that “it was easier to live with an Israel that was getting the resources it needed to defend itself. Then Israel would not have to commit wild or unacceptable acts.” Thus, Kennedy steered the U.S. – Israeli partnership to a new level of cooperation and changed the way the United States thought about regional stability, Israeli security, and U.S. – Israeli relations.

 President Lyndon B. Johnson took Kennedy’s Hawk sale one step further with his historic decision to sell Israel 210 M-48 Patton tanks in 1965, marking the beginning of the U.S. policy of providing Israel with offensive weapons. A year later, in 1966, the United States sold Israel the A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. The new weapons ensured that Israel had not only defensive capabilities on par with Arab armies but offensive capabilities as well. The rationale was that a strong Israel equipped with the best military technology would deter Arab armies and prevent state-to-state wars in the region. During the next decade, this concept would evolve into a long-standing U.S. commitment to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME).

These offensive weapons sales contributed to Israel’s swift and stunning victory over Arab armies in 1967, and U.S.- Israeli relations grew stronger still. Israel was a winner in the region, having defeated Soviet clients on the battlefield. Moreover, Israel’s capture of Soviet military hardware was a gold mine for U.S. military intelligence. From that point, U.S. military aid to Israel took off: from 1967 until the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991, the United States provided Israel with nearly $30 billion in military loans and grants. In a short time, Israel’s army was largely equipped by the United States, fulfilling a long-standing goal of Israel’s leadership.

By Manuel J. Laserna.

[JURIST] The House of Commons of the UK Parliament [official websites] voted 366-161 on Tuesday to approve the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill [HC Bill 3].

The legislation was introduced in January [JURIST report] and will effectively extend the application of the Marriage Act of 1949 [materials] to same-sex as well as opposite-sex couples.

The bill allows for an exception for any religious institutions that do not wish to perform same-sex weddings.

Same-sex couples in England and Wales have been permitted to enter into civil partnerships since 2005 [BBC report], which has allowed them to receive many of the same legal rights as married opposite-sex couples.

Prime Minister David Cameron [official website], who also serves as the Leader of the Conservative Party [official website], strongly supports the bill. His support has created tension [JURIST report] within the Conservative Party.

The bill will next proceed to the House of Lords [official website] for final approval.

By Thomas J. Fox.

Putting a compliance policy into practice is not something that most companies do very well. How do you get buy-in for a new or amended compliance policy? How do you determine if a new compliance policy contradicts anything that you currently have in your compliance policy portfolio?

When thinking about such questions regarding compliance policies I am reminded of four questions posed by Stephen Page, in his book “Achieving 100% Compliance Of Policies and Procedures”, wherein he poses the following questions: (1) What is the nature of the policies owner’s function? As these are compliance policies, they are critical to a company doing business in compliance with relevant anti-corruption/anti-bribery laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and UK Bribery Act. (2) What is your organization’s overall vision and mission? This question speaks to management’s commitment to doing business ethically and in compliance with legal requirements. (3) What is the content of the policies? This speaks to the connection of the policy goals with other incentives, such as compensation and promotion. (4) What is your company’s receptivity to the policy? This question speaks to training and communication so that employees will understand not only the underlying reason for the policy but drive adherence to the policy.

These and other questions were explored at the recently concluded Compliance Week 2013 event in a session entitled “Case Study: Putting Policies into Practice at Dell”. Kristi Kevern, Director of Operational Compliance and Page Motes, Director, Strategic Programs Office – Global Ethics & Compliance from Dell Corporation, were the two panelists for the event. Kristi discussed how Dell overhauled its entire compliance policy management program and I will discuss her remarks in a later blog. Motes does not come from a compliance background but came from business development. I found her perspective quite different from the usual compliance perspective. From where she sits, she recognizes the need to internally market a new compliance policy; however this marketing plan must begin at the inception of a compliance policy and not after it has been drafted.

Motes said that it is incumbent to obtain buy-in from the business units before a compliance policy is drafted because, after all, it is the business units which will implement a compliance policy. This begins with a business unit sponsor who should have ownership of any new compliance policy. After the initial draft is made, it should be circulated to make sure that the compliance policy is workable and that it is translated from legalese (or accounting-ese) or other technical jargon into plain English. She said that is one of her key roles.

The next step is the internal market. Here Motes believes that a key is to move away from words such as ‘ethics’ to words that denote behaviors. She said that her group would talk about trust, honesty, respect, judgment and responsibility. After rollout the compliance group must train on the new policy and then monitor to ensure that it is followed. Finally, there must be some consequences to an employee if they are trained but fail after multiple warnings to follow a policy.

I thought about Motes’ ideas when I read a recent article in the June issue of Fast Company magazine, entitled “Starbucks’s Leap of Faith” which discussed the company’s rollout and approach to innovation. One of the examples in the article was when Starbucks rolled out its mobile application to allow customers to pay through their smart phones. The company worked with staff on proto-types, then trained and followed up with interviews to determine how the new system was working. Recognizing that there were technical glitches to overcome, the company persevered. Ryan Records, Vice President of Payments, was quoted as saying “it became seamless and flawless and an elegant way to pay” and that payment method now accounts for roughly 10% of the company’s total pay each day.

The Starbucks story drove home to me the key message from Motes. You must work with the business units to operationalize any policy. While it is true that a compliance professional will be the subject matter expert on the requirements of what should go into a compliance policy, but it is equally important on how that information is imparted and getting employees to care about the policy. Page puts it in a slightly different light. He said “From a systems viewpoint, it is often the organization’s infrastructure, and not its people, which is rigid and inflexible, often leading to angry and frustrated employees. If people cannot approach problems, talk openly, or give opinions, then this prevailing attitude can cause withdrawal and people who do not care. The clearer the tie between what an organization is doing and the results, the more energy, commitment, and excitement they will generate during a change process.” I think the latter sentence is what you need to strive for in the realm of compliance policies.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

Original Link: http://tfoxlaw.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/getting-employees-to-care-about-a-compliance-policy/

Scientists Announce Top 10 New Species

An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23.

The announcement, now in its sixth year, coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus — the 18th century Swedish botanist responsible for the modern system of scientific names and classifications.

The top 10 new species list was announced May 23 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The 2013 list includes an amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge, and the smallest vertebrate on Earth — a tiny frog. It also includes a snail-eating false coral snake, flowering bushes, a green lacewing, a hangingfly fossil, a monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus.

Credit: Composite: Jacob Sahertian

Also slithering it way onto this year’s top 10 is a snail-eating false coral snake, as well as flowering bushes from a disappearing forest in Madagascar, a green lacewing that was discovered through social media and hangingflies that perfectly mimicked ginkgo tree leaves 165 million years ago. Rounding out the list is a new monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus that threatens rare Paleolithic cave paintings in France.

“We have identified only about two million of an estimated 10 to 12 million living species and that does not count most of the microbial world,” said Quentin Wheeler, founding director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at ASU and author of “What on Earth? 100 of our Planet’s Most Amazing New Species” (NY, Plume, 2013).

“For decades, we have averaged 18,000 species discoveries per year which seemed reasonable before the biodiversity crisis. Now, knowing that millions of species may not survive the 21st century, it is time to pick up the pace,” Wheeler added.

“We are calling for a NASA-like mission to discover 10 million species in the next 50 years. This would lead to discovering countless options for a more sustainable future while securing evidence of the origins of the biosphere,” Wheeler said.

Taxon experts pick top 10

Members of the international committee made their top 10 selection from more than 140 nominated species. To be considered, species must have been described in compliance with the appropriate code of nomenclature, whether botanical, zoological or microbiological, and have been officially named during 2012.

“Selecting the final list of new species from a wide representation of life forms such as bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, is difficult. It requires finding an equilibrium between certain criteria and the special insights revealed by selection committee members,” said Antonio Valdecasas, a biologist and research zoologist with Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain. Valdecasas is the international selection committee chairman for the top 10 new species.

“We look for organisms with unexpected features or size and those found in rare or difficult to reach habitats. We also look for organisms that are especially significant to humans — those that play a certain role in human habitat or that are considered a close relative,” Valdecasas added.

This year’s top 10 come from Peru; NE Pacific Ocean, USA: California; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Panama; France; New Guinea; Madagascar; Ecuador; Malaysia; and China.

Top 10 New Species, 2013

“I don’t know whether to be more astounded by the species discovered each year, or the depths of our ignorance about biodiversity of which we are a part,” shared Wheeler.

“At the same time we search the heavens for other earthlike planets, we should make it a high priority to explore the biodiversity on the most earthlike planet of them all: Earth,” he added. “With more than eight out of every 10 living species awaiting discovery, I am shocked by our ignorance of our very own planet and in awe at the diversity, beauty and complexity of the biosphere and its inhabitants.”

Describing the discoveries

Lilliputian Violet
Viola lilliputana
Country: Peru

Tiny violet: Not only is the Lilliputian violet among the smallest violets in the world, it is also one of the most diminutive terrestrial dicots. Known only from a single locality in an Intermontane Plateau of the high Andes of Peru, Viola lilliputana lives in the dry puna grassland eco-region. Specimens were first collected in the 1960s, but the species was not described as a new until 2012. The entire above ground portion of the plant is barely 1 centimeter tall. Named, obviously, for the race of little people on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

Lyre Sponge
Chondrocladia lyra
Country: NE Pacific Ocean; USA: California

Carnivorous sponge: A spectacular, large, harp- or lyre-shaped carnivorous sponge discovered in deep water (averaging 3,399 meters) from the northeast Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The harp-shaped structures or vanes number from two to six and each has more than 20 parallel vertical branches, often capped by an expanded, balloon-like, terminal ball. This unusual form maximizes the surface area of the sponge for contact and capture of planktonic prey.

Lesula Monkey
Cercopithecus lomamiensis
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Old World monkey: Discovered in the Lomami Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula is an Old World monkey well known to locals but newly known to science. This is only the second species of monkey discovered in Africa in the past 28 years. Scientists first saw the monkey as a captive juvenile in 2007. Researchers describe the shy lesula as having human-like eyes. More easily heard than seen, the monkeys perform a booming dawn chorus. Adult males have a large, bare patch of skin on the buttocks, testicles and perineum that is colored a brilliant blue. Although the forests where the monkeys live are remote, the species is hunted for bush meat and its status is vulnerable.

No to the Mine! Snake
Sibon noalamina
Country: Panama

Snail-eating snake: A beautiful new species of snail-eating snake has been discovered in the highland rainforests of western Panama. The snake is nocturnal and hunts soft-bodied prey including earthworms and amphibian eggs, in addition to snails and slugs. This harmless snake defends itself by mimicking the alternating dark and light rings of venomous coral snakes. The species is found in the Serranía de Tabasará mountain range where ore mining is degrading and diminishing its habitat. The species name is derived from the Spanish phrase “No a la mina” or “No to the mine.”

A Smudge on Paleolithic Art
Ochroconis anomala
Country: France

Fungus: In 2001, black stains began to appear on the walls of Lascaux Cave in France. By 2007, the stains were so prevalent they became a major concern for the conservation of precious rock art at the site that dates back to the Upper Paleolithic. An outbreak of a white fungus, Fusarium solani, had been successfully treated when just a few months later, black staining fungi appeared. The genus primarily includes fungi that occur in the soil and are associated with the decomposition of plant matter. As far as scientists know, this fungus, one of two new species of the genus from Lascaux, is harmless. However, at least one species of the group, O. gallopava, causes disease in humans who have compromised immune systems.

World’s Smallest Vertebrate
Paedophryne amanuensis
Country: New Guinea

Tiny frog: Living vertebrates — animals that have a backbone or spinal column — range in size from this tiny new species of frog, as small as 7 millimeters, to the blue whale, measuring 25.8 meters. The new frog was discovered near Amau village in Papua, New Guinea. It captures the title of ‘smallest living vertebrate’ from a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that claimed the record in 2006. The adult frog size, determined by averaging the lengths of both males and females, is only 7.7 millimeters. With few exceptions, this and other ultra-small frogs are associated with moist leaf litter in tropical wet forests — suggesting a unique ecological guild that could not exist under drier circumstances.

Endangered Forest
Eugenia petrikensis
Country: Madagascar

Endangered shrub: Eugenia is a large, worldwide genus of woody evergreen trees and shrubs of the myrtle family that is particularly diverse in South America, New Caledonia and Madagascar. The new species E. petrikensis is a shrub growing to two meters with emerald green, slightly glossy foliage and beautiful, dense clusters of small magenta flowers. It is one of seven new species described from the littoral forest of eastern Madagascar and is considered to be an endangered species. It is the latest evidence of the unique and numerous species found in this specialized, humid forest that grows on sandy substrate within kilometers of the shoreline. Once forming a continuous band 1,600 kilometers long, the littoral forest has been reduced to isolated, vestigial fragments under pressure from human populations.

Lightning Roaches?
Lucihormetica luckae
Country: Ecuador

Glow-in-the-dark cockroach: Luminescence among terrestrial animals is rather rare and best known among several groups of beetles — fireflies and certain click beetles in particular — as well as cave-inhabiting fungus gnats. Since the first discovery of a luminescent cockroach in 1999, more than a dozen species have (pardon the pun) “come to light.” All are rare, and interestingly, so far found only in remote areas far from light pollution. The latest addition to this growing list is L. luckae that may be endangered or possibly already extinct. This cockroach is known from a single specimen collected 70 years ago from an area heavily impacted by the eruption of the Tungurahua volcano. The species may be most remarkable because the size and placement of its lamps suggest that it is using light to mimic toxic luminescent click beetles.

No Social Butterfly
Semachrysa jade
Country: Malaysia

Social media lacewing: In a trend-setting collision of science and social media, Hock Ping Guek photographed a beautiful green lacewing with dark markings at the base of its wings in a park near Kuala Lumpur and shared his photo on Flickr. Shaun Winterton, an entomologist with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, serendipitously saw the image and recognized the insect as unusual. When Guek was able to collect a specimen, it was sent to Stephen Brooks at London’s Natural History Museum who confirmed its new species status. The three joined forces and prepared a description using Google Docs. In this triumph for citizen science, talents from around the globe collaborated by using new media in making the discovery. The lacewing is not named for its color — rather for Winterton’s daughter, Jade.

Hanging Around in the Jurassic
Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia
Country: China

Hangingfly fossil: Living species of hangingflies can be found, as the name suggests, hanging beneath foliage where they capture other insects as food. They are a lineage of scorpionflies characterized by their skinny bodies, two pairs of narrow wings, and long threadlike legs. A new fossil species, Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, has been found along with preserved leaves of a gingko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, in Middle Jurassic deposits in the Jiulongshan Formation in China’s Inner Mongolia. The two look so similar that they are easily confused in the field and represent a rare example of an insect mimicking a gymnosperm 165 million years ago, before an explosive radiation of flowering plants.

Why create a top 10 new species list?

Arizona State University’s International Institute for Species Exploration announces the top 10 new species list each year as part of its public awareness campaign to bring attention to biodiversity and the field of taxonomy.

“Sustainable biodiversity means assuring the survival of as many and as diverse species as possible so that ecosystems are resilient to whatever stresses they face in the future. Scientists will need access to as much evidence of evolutionary history as possible,” said the institute’s Wheeler, who is also a professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and in the School of Sustainability, as well as a senior sustainability scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability.

“All of our hopes and dreams for conservation hinge upon saving millions of species that we cannot recognize and know nothing about,” Wheeler added. “No investment makes more sense than completing a simple inventory to the establish baseline data that tells us what kinds of plants and animals exist and where. Until we know what species already exist, it is folly to expect we will make the right decisions to assure the best possible outcome for the pending biodiversity crisis.”

Additionally, the announcement is made on or near May 23 to honor Linnaeus. Since he initiated the modern system for naming plants and animals, nearly two million species have been named, described and classified. Excluding unknown millions of microbes, scientists estimate there are between 10 and 12 million living species.

IISE International Selection Committee: Antonio G. Valdecasas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Spain, Committee Chair; Andrew Polaszek, Natural History Museum, England; Ellinor Michel, Natural History Museum, England; Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho, Universidade de São Paulo; Aharon Oren, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Mary Liz Jameson, Wichita State University, USA; Alan Paton, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, England; James A. Macklin, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada; John S. Noyes, Natural History Museum, England; Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Landcare Research, New Zealand; and Gideon Smith, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa.

Nominations for the 2014 list — for species described in 2013 — may be made online athttp://species.asu.edu/species-nomination. Previous top 10 lists are available at: http://species.asu.edu.

The Riots

Dozens of supporters of the right-group English Defence League (EDL) congregated a few hours after the murder at Woolwich Arsenal doors chanting anti-Muslim slogans.

Several of them clashed with riot police forces who had to work hard to break up the protest organized through social networks.

“They are cutting the heads of our soldiers: this is Islam,” proclaimed the leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson. “This is what we have seen today as they have taken the head off a soldier in the streets of London.” (The news of the alleged beheading circulated online for hours in the absence of an official version by the police.)

“Our next generations are going to teach that Islam is a religion of peace,” added Robinson. “The truth is that it never has been. What we have seen today is Islam, and we have had enough. There has to be a reaction to this incident. The Government has to listen; the police have to listen and understand the anger of the people in Great Britain .”

Clashes between police and ultras lasted much of the night in Woolwich. Riot police blocked the exit of a pub and apparently thwarted the intention of the protesters to attack a local mosque.

Two men were arrested late Thursday in two incidents targeting mosques in the UK. In Braintree (Essex) a man with a knife was arrested inside a temple. The secretary of the mosque, Sikander Saleemy in Channel 4 said that it was probably “a revenge attack” and expressed his fear that “people blame Muslims for what happened in Woolwich”.

In Kent County the police confirmed the arrest of another man accused of “causing damage while racially aggravated” during the attack on a mosque in Canterbury Street.

One of the murderers chanting “Allah is Great after the assault.” 

What started the violent riots?

Two Muslim men stabbed to death a British soldier while chanting a Muslim hymn.

The deputy of the area, Nick Raynsford Labour condemned the attack and said that, to his knowledge, one of the attackers filmed the assault and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is Great”).

‘An eye for an eye’

The two men might have initiated the altercation after running over the soldier. It showed the crashed car seen in some images.

Then they got out of the car and, according to eyewitnesses, approached him, and beat him with a machete while he was on the ground, according to The Telegraph. An udentified witness told LBC radio they came to believe that the attackers were planning to “take out his organs.”

Witnesses said the man was attacked with knives like “a piece of meat”. “These two men were upset,” the man said.

“They were like untrained animals. They dragged him from the sidewalk and dumped his body in the middle of the street and left him there.”

Then the attackers remained in place, waving their knives and a gun, and asking passers byto take his picture, “as if he wanted to be on TV or something,” said James another man who witnessed the attack.

In some images broadcasted by ITV News one of the attackers speaks directly to the camera to explain their motivations.

“We swear by the Almighty Allah we’ll never stop fighting against you. The only reason we did this is because Muslims die everyday. This British soldier is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” argued one of the attackers.

Ingrid Kenneth speaks to the murderers waiting for the police

What a brave witness saw

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, mother of two children and leader of children’s organization Cub Scouts, was on her way to the Parliament Square when she saw the gruesome scene of a soldier being killed in south London.

Ingrid thought at first that it was a traffic related accident and talked with ease with the murderers.

“I could clearly see a body on the road next to the car accident. I have first aid training, so I went to see if I could help,“ Ingrid said. ”I saw a woman sitting next to the man and tried to help by putting something under the back and a jacket under his head. I tried his pulse, but could not find. “

“I could not see his face, but I did not see any evidence to suggest that someone had tried to cut his head. Did not see anything that would identify the victim as a soldier either,” Ingrid said.

“Then I saw a black man with a gun in one hand and a butcher knife in the other. He looked very nervous and I said not to approach the man’s body, “ Ingrid said.

“He looked like a normal person. I could talk to him and he wanted to talk to someone, and that’s what I did. “

‘Furious’ with the British Army

‘There was really nothing at the time. It scared me because he looked drunk, or was under the influence of drugs. It was a normal ‘

Just five minutes Loyau-Kennett Ingrid spoke with one of the murderers, and coolly asked him why he had killed a man … “He told me he had killed because he was a British soldier who had killed women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was furious at what the British Army had done there “.

At that time Ingrid Loyau-Kennett saw a trail of blood on the asphalt, from the lifeless body of the soldier killed. Even so, he was able to continue chatting with the murderer and thought to ask, “I said I was going to start a war in London, and he would try to kill the cops if they came after him. Told him it was only he against many people, and I’d end up missing out if you did that. “

“Then I went to another man, who seemed quiet and shy. I asked what he was doing, and he said he was not going to move on. At that time many people began to surround us, but I did not want to frighten or feel agitated; I kept talking to him to keep him busy.”

“The policemen came, and shot both men in the legs,’” Ingrid said.

By Lisa Nielsen. 

Jeff Bliss got our attention when he shared his frustration with his teacher, classmates, and the world about his learning environment.