Split (1)

train · 2.6M rows

text stringlengths 12 27.8k
His voice has grown hoarse on some days, but he has kept going.
The reason for this extra-ordinary effort is that when voters cast their ballots on Sunday, they will be voting for mayors and mukhtars (neighbourhood officials) only in literal terms.
The election is actually a referendum on Erdogan. As inflation is at 20%, unemployment 13.5% and food prices having risen by 30% year-on-year, the voters are disenchanted with their president.
The unknown factor in the race is fraud. Cheating has become so brazen that, after the 2017 referendum and the 2018 elections, videos were posted on social media of election officials stamping ballot after ballot in favour of Erdogan or his Justice and Development Party (AKP). So the question is: Will the authorities a...
“I don’t trust the elections,” said an electrical engineer, Murat Yilmaz, sitting on a bench in Swan Park, Ankara.
The distrust is so widespread that all of the opposition parties in parliament - the main Republican People’s Party (CHP), the centre-right Good Party (Iyi) and the liberal, pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) - have accused the Supreme Electoral Council of bias.
“The SEC should be fair and independent, but in recent years it has been acting like a branch of the government,” the Iyi Party’s head of election security, Hasan Seymen, said in an interview.
Turkey has the technical abilities to trace the cell phones of the people who posted the ballot-stamping videos, and thereby find the electoral officials who committed fraud. But nobody was prosecuted for those videos.
Nevertheless there are those who argue that for all its flaws, an election is worth taking part in - either as a candidate or as a voter. One such advocate is Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the director of the German Marshall Fund think-tank in Ankara.
“Our elections are unfair. They are not entirely free,” Unluhisarcikli said, referring to the media bias in favour of AKP and the detention of opposition legislators.
“If the elections were fake, why is Erdogan so nervous?” he asked rhetorically.
What is arguably the best polling company in Turkey, Metropoll, says the opposition alliance of the CHP-Iyi parties will definitely win in Izmir and Ankara, the third and second biggest cities in Turkey.
Its director, Ozer Sencar, told this correspondent that in Istanbul the race was too close to call, but last month the opposition candidate was ahead of the AKP candidate by more than 3 percentage points.
The CHP and Iyi parties say they are working flat out to transform such forecasts into reality and that means they have to contain fraud.
Ankara, a city of five million people, is key battleground. Not only is it the capital, but it is a more conservative city than Istanbul or Izmir, a town where Erdogan’s supporters feel more at home. And it has been held by the AKP and its ideological predecessor for the past 25 years.
The head of election security in CHP, Onursal Adiguzel, says the party will deploy 14,345 party activists to monitor Ankara’s 12, 158 ballot boxes. And they will be supported by 25,000 volunteers.
When ballots are counted, the CHP representatives have to send the results on a special cell-phone App to party headquarters. They also have to collect signed tally sheets, called tutanaklar in Turkish, and deliver them to the party’s district offices, where the results will be computerised.
Adiguzel showed this correspondent how the party’s compilation of results could be compared to those issued by the SEC. Whenever there is a discrepancy, the CHP computer screen turns red. Objections must be filed within 48 hours of polls closing.
“The most important thing is that we collect the original tutanaklar. If we have all thetutanaklar from the polling stations, we will have time to file objections,” he said in an interview in the CHP headquarters.
Adiguzel admitted that in the 2014 local elections the party had been let down by its own monitors. In many cases, CHP monitors went home after the ballots had been counted, not waiting to check the filling-in of the tutanaklar. It is alleged that at this stage the fraud took place that robbed the CHP candidate, Mansur...
On Sunday, Mansur Yavas is standing again as the candidate of CHP-Iyi. “We are telling all of our monitors not to leave the polling stations until the tutanaklar have been filled in, stamped, and they have got originals,” Adiguzel said.
Iyi party is putting its emphasis on training monitors and supporting them with lawyers - one lawyer for every three polling stations. It has published a booklet on a monitor’s duties and legal rights. And it has run a test election with monitors filing invented results to check that Iyi’s central computer is not overl...
Seymen told this correspondent he is very much aware of the failings of the opposition in previous elections.
“If you leave the door open, fraud will come in,” he said.
A motor vehicle accident shattered Emilee Ballinghoff's bones, but not her spirit.
The Sicklerville resident, 19, hopes to counsel other young women and girls who need someone to talk to.
"When I get all better," she says gently, "I just want to be their shoulder to cry on."
The same kind of commitment motivates nine student singers from Gloucester and Salem Counties, who perform for dementia patients as an ensemble called Generation while raising money for Alzheimer's charities.
Meanwhile, in Camden, Evan Winokur's and Timothy John "T.J." Eaton's organization, A Little Helping Hand, provides 850 Camden and Philadelphia students with winter clothing and holiday gifts.
And for the last three years, Beth Connolly has made weekly rounds in both cities, pulling up in her tan 1979 Econoline van to offer sandwiches, snacks, and a kind word to needy people.
Like Ballinghoff, Generation, and A Little Helping Hand, Connolly hasn't gotten much attention.
Hence my holiday season tip of the hat to four distinctive and deeply personal efforts to bring a bit of joy to the world.
"I don't think what I do is a big deal," says Connolly, 52, who works six nights a week as a dispatcher for a Pennsauken transportation company.
"People need to realize the need out there," the Somerdale resident says. "The amount of people who are suffering has increased."
Connolly, who has lupus, uses a cane, and is under 5 feet tall, has long had what she describes as a "calling" to assist homeless or otherwise needy people.
About 20 friends and fellow churchgoers from Methodist congregations in Glendora and Magnolia, as well as the Neighborhood Center in Camden, help her make sandwiches and collect donations of clothing and packaged foods.
"Everything is donations or out of our own pockets," Connolly says.
Volunteers are likewise essential to A Little Helping Hand.
"Without the generosity of our supporters, we wouldn't have an organization," says Winokur, 32, who grew up in Washington Township and lives in Wilmington. Eaton, his partner in founding A Little Helping Hand, hails from Tabernacle.
Their group has raised more than $15,000 since it was founded in 2007, much of that through an annual 5K run in Washington Lake Park in Washington Township. Proceeds help buy school supplies and other items for students throughout the region.
"We work closely with the three Acelero Learning Centers in Camden. . . . We get a list of the specific needs among the students," says Winokur, a kindergarten teacher in Philly. "Toys, warm clothes, toiletries, gift cards, anything the families need or ask for.
"T.J. and I talk all the time about how much we've been given," he adds. "So if even one child can live a little bit better because of A Little Helping Hand, then we've succeeded."
In August, the seven girls and two boys in Generation - their ages range from 8 to 16 - gave their first performance for Alzheimer's patients.
Daniel Glaudel, their vocal coach and piano teacher, and parent Ceri Galati - both of whom had been touched by the predicament of those with dementia - helped them get off the ground.
The original plan was to sing on a few occasions in September, which is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. But word got around, bookings increased, and Generation has performed more than a dozen times in Gloucester, Cumberland, and Salem Counties.
"The experience has changed all of us," says Skylar Galati, 14, a soprano who lives in South Harrison and is a Kingsway Middle School eighth grader.
"We sing old songs and Broadway classics they would know, and we can hear some of [the patients] sing along with us, which is nice," she says. "Because we're able to see them having a good time, it's not sad. I think we kind of remind them of their grandchildren."
Her mother notes that the kids also have raised $5,500 for Alzheimer's charities. "How lucky I am to watch what happens when these kids sing," Ceri Galati says. "I feel I am in the middle of a blessing."
Ballinghoff's life was a challenge even before July 20, when an SUV in which she was a backseat passenger left the Black Horse Pike, overturned, and struck a utility pole in Monroe Township.
"My mother died when I was 11, and I don't really have a family," she says from her bed at Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., where she is undergoing yet another round of rehabilitation. Six surgeries so far; a seventh is possible.
Ballinghoff's right leg was amputated below the knee as a result of her injuries, which also included a broken left leg, a broken back, and punctured lungs.
"It's an amazing story, and Emilee is an absolute sweetheart," says Mike Barnes, executive director of the Barkann Family Healing Hearts Foundation in Newtown Square.
The foundation is assisting Ballinghoff financially, and connecting her with college-age volunteers and others to help her resume her life.
"We've all been kind of pulled in by her amazing attitude," Barnes says.
Emilee really is a remarkable person, and when I ask her what it's like being inspirational, she doesn't hesitate.
Having a chance to help others, she says, may be the reason "why I made it through the accident."
The attack, planned and executed by Pakistan's military-intelligence complex and Jaishe-Mohammad, supports India's case that the J&K unrest is fuelled by Pakistan.
At a meeting with PoK Hurriyat leaders ahead of his departure to New York, Sharif assured them that he'd emphatically highlight the Kashmir issue at the UN.
NEW DELHI: The Uri attack comes days before Nawaz Sharif 's UN General Assembly speech and may not help his plan to unleash a blistering attack on India for alleged rights violations in J&K.
Sharif left for New York on Saturday night. But Islamabad's narrative against India will be slightly tarnished now that a Pakistan-supported terror group has unleashed fresh violence in J&K. The attack, planned and executed by Pakistan's military-intelligence complex and Jaishe-Mohammad, supports India's case that the ...
According to former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, Pakistan has wilfully planned the attacks.“Pakistan is doing this to put India in the dock,“ he said. “These attacks have the backing of Pakistani elements.“ After the Pathankot attack Islamabad accepted that the attack had originated from its territory and that the g...
It is now reasonably clear that the November Saarc summit is unlikely to happen and PM Narendra Modi will find it impossible to travel to Islamabad. But Pakistan will continue the diplomatic battle against India. At the Venezuela NAM Summit, it blocked an Indian initiative for a working group on terrorism.
By mid-October, India would have hosted its own neighbourhood summit, minus Pakistan -the BRICS meet in Goa.The BRICS outreach will be followed by a full BIMSTEC summit. Considering that Afghan president Ashraf Ghani recently visited India, this will be India's own regional diplomacy without Pakistan.
India is also likely to step up its diplomatic efforts on Balochistan. Modi's reference to the issue during his August 15 ad dress sparked widespread support from Baloch activists and anger in Pakistan. There is speculation over whether the Uri attack was in retaliation to this, in the way that Pathankot was a sign of ...
Sibal said the situation called for a robust response, including military action. A diplomatic response, even if that included recalling the Indian envoy from Islamabad, would be seen as weak, he said. “We need a robust response even if it means Sharif playing it up to create the impression that regional peace was bein...
It might be spring break for some, but for those who are staying in the valley, there's plenty of live music and entertainment. Enjoy a special performance by Kelly Martin for Hailey Words and Music at McClain's Pizza in Hailey on Sunday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m.
Hailey Words and Music is a nonprofit organization that has a monthly performing arts series promoting artists in the Wood River Valley. Performances take place on the fourth Sunday of every month from September through May.
Martin is a veteran of the music industry who has moved on from a successful band career to the world of the solo singer-songwriter. Born in Oregon, Martin was one of two singer-songwriters for the band CrashFour. He started his solo career after nine years, four albums and playing over 400 shows with the band. He has ...
The show starts at 5:30 p.m. and aspiring poets, musicians, storytellers, actors and performers are encouraged to sign up at the door for the open stage.
Other music around town will be the debut of Peelander Z on Tuesday, March 29, at Whiskey Jacques' in Ketchum. Peelander Z is a "Japanese action comic punk band" based in New York City. The band was formed in 1998. Band members say they are all from the "Z area on the planet Peelander."
Peelander Z members don colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese animation and describe their outfits as their skin. Their shows ask for intense audience participation and a chance to exercise with the band.
"Do human bowling with us," said band member Yellow. "Do limbo dancing with us. Do karaoke competition with us. Hit our cowbell with us. Don't be shy—give us your smile. We can beat your stress. See you at our show."
Researchers may have discovered how the bright plumage of male birds evolved as a sign of health and vigor to potential mates. Testosterone, which weakens the immune system, increases the circulation of immunity-enhancing pigments called carotenoids, they find. Healthy birds let the pigment collect in the skin to flaun...
The bright coloration of some birds is a classic example of an animal advertising its high quality to potential mates. Carotenoids are the pigment in red, orange and yellow skin (and carrots), but they are also powerful antioxidants that boost the immune system. Only healthy male birds can afford to maintain a costly d...
In the mating game testosterone plays a similar role to carotenoids. The hormone makes male birds strut and croon but weakens their immune systems, and researchers knew that variations in testosterone levels between birds and seasons tend to match up with variations in the brightness of colors.
"There should be a connection between these two signaling systems," says ecologist Julio Blas of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. Blas and his colleagues in Spain and Canada reasoned that high testosterone should increase the amount of carotenoids in the blood. If a male is healthy, they hypothesize...
To test the idea the group implanted capsules of testosterone under the skin of 13 red-legged partridges. These doped birds had 20 percent more carotenoids in their blood after the treatment, apparently because they absorbed more of the compounds from their food, whereas untreated birds showed no change. Higher blood l...
Tellingly, the birds with stronger immune systems saw bigger gains in brightness for the same amount of carotenoids, according to the group's report published online November 20 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
"We think this relationship between carotenoids and testosterone may have evolved first to counteract the negative effects of testosterone," Blas says. The role of the antioxidants in mating would have come later, he explains. He adds that the group hopes to see if the link holds in other bird species and other vertebr...
Halifax coach Richard Marshall has hinted the club is still working on a deal that would bring France international forward Kevin Larroyer to the Shay.
Larroyer, who has played for Castleford, Catalans and Hull KR, spent this year in the Championship at Leigh before falling victim to the Centurions’ end of season cost cutting after they failed to secure a top four finish.
Larroyer is believed to be one of two players - the other being the former Warrington centre Rhys Evans - still to agree a settlement with Leigh on the remainder of their contracts.
Until those deals are finally signed and sealed, neither player can move on, while Leigh, currently operating under an RFL transfer embargo, cannot confirm the expected arrival of new coach John Duffy or any new players.
Larroyer was reported to be heading for Fax a week ago, but those rumours only seem to have sparked a fresh round of bargaining between the player’s representatives and Leigh’s flamboyant owner Derek Beaumont.
“We are interested in Kevin, but it’s out of our hands at this stage,” said Marshall, who said he has secured additional sponsorship - believed to be from former Fax director Laurence Turner’s business, Investing for Tomorrow - to help fund Larroyer’s potential move.
“It might happen or it might not, we’ll have to wait and see.
Fax have also re-signed the young St Helens forward Liam Cooper, who played for the club in this year’s Super 8s Qualifiers, on a season-long loan deal.
“We’re very happy to welcome Liam back,” said Marshall.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve and works really hard for his teammates, so he fitted straight in here when he arrived last season.
“Saints have got a really good talent pathway going over there and they obviously think he’s got something to offer them as he’s re-signed there for another year.
“He’ll spend pre-season with Saints and then come to us after Christmas.
“We know he can play back row or middle, which gives us options, but if you pushed me I’d say we see him as a back row.
The Walking Dead wasn’t the only show that spent an entire season teasing someone’s death. After releasing a promo in which Oliver Queen (played by Stephen Amell) stands in front of a mysterious grave vowing vengeance, Arrow’s showrunners were essentially telling us that someone important was going to die. Unlike the A...
During Wednesday night’s episode titled "Eleven-Fifty-Nine," it was revealed that Laurel Lance (played by Katie Cassidy) was the one to get the ax. The Black Canary succumbed to her injuries following a surprise attack by Damien Darhk (played by Neal McDonough) and, according to showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Me...
“With the Lazarus Pit and the possibilities of coming back, it's easy in some ways to forget that our characters are vigilantes, they're out on the street doing really dangerous things, and what this does is it really brings that reality back in a very kind of rude and brutal way. And I think that it's g...
So don’t expect to see her rising from the grave like her sister, Sara. In the meantime, look out for Lance’s Earth-2 persona Black Siren in an upcoming episode of The Flash.
AUSTIN, Texas, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MVPindex, the standard for end-to-end audience measurement and sponsorship valuation in sports and entertainment, is partnering with SocialSign.in, an innovative software-defined network authentication service specifically tailored for guest and visitor networks, to provide ...
Currently, audience data comes from a mixture of direct sources such as a property app's users, direct ticket sales, in-game and onsite marketing, as well as non-direct sources including TV, paid social and retail apparel sales. On average, less than 10 percent of that data is first-party – meaning that it comes direct...
Teams, venues and their brand partners can learn more about their customers from their customers, creating opportunities for richer, more personalized brand experiences and additional sales during and after their visit.
"For popular sports franchises, getting fans inside a stadium is easy," said Mike Perrone, founder and CEO of SocialSign.In. "The challenge is converting those fans into ongoing, engaged customers. The key to success is building a strong and more direct digital connection with your on-site audience, thereby limiting th...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.