Theatre A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Back to the 60s: the National Theatre's A Funny Thing Happened... Photo: Tristram Kenton Why should the National revive this evergreen mix of Plautine comedy and American vaudeville? One answer, as Edward Hall's joyously eclectic production proves, is that A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is both a nostalgic throwback and a pioneering experiment - a musical farce predating The Producers by 40 years. The book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart is a brilliant synthesis of stock characters from Plautus: the manipulative slave, the military braggart, the senescent lecher. But, into this cat's cradle of a plot about the attempts of Pseudolus to secure a bride for his master, Stephen Sondheim has inserted a group of songs that literally stop the show. Instead of advancing the story, they provide a musical respite; and, although Sondheim once said that "about three-quarters of the score is wrong", here a dozen wrongs add up to a right. Hall instantly grasps the show's formal playfulness by making the opening number, Comedy Tonight, a comic climax: as Pseudolus itemises the evening's ingredients, including tumblers who pop out of a skip like jacks-in-the-box, they coalesce to form a high-kicking finale. Having started, as it were, at the end, Hall is then free to focus on the show's constituent parts. And nothing is more characteristic of Sondheim's elegant wit than a number like Free, in which Pseudolus hymns the joys of liberty, which include "the right to buy a slave for me". But the production's success lies in its ability to draw together a whole range of performance traditions. Desmond Barrit, an RSC Falstaff, lends Pseudolus his own brand of roguish geniality: even the moment when his eyes lasciviously follow a courtesan's rotating hips is purged of offence by his unthreatening charm. Sam Kelly's hilariously goggle-eyed Senex, meanwhile, belongs to the old music-hall tradition of the hen-pecked husband. Hall has shrewdly recruited the Right Size's Hamish McColl to play the quivering Hysterium. Philip Quast parodies the macho solemnity he has brought to earlier musicals by playing Miles Gloriosus as a vain sex object suspending his helmet from his private parts. The courtesans, dominated by Tiffany Graves's whip-cracking Gymnasia, come from some limitless beauty pool. Even the design, by Improbable's Julian Crouch, gives a Roman street an ironic antiquity. The result is a ministry of all the talents that does rich justice to this vertiginously funny show. Most popular on the Guardian Today in pictures After advising tourists against travel to the cities of Jammu and Srinagar for nearly 20 years, the Foreign Office has lifted its guidelines after a fall in violence. So, Dal Lake and part of the Valley of Kashmir, one of India's most beautiful regions, are once again open to visitors


Genocide is the systematic destruction of all or part of a racial , ethnic , religious or national group via the a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Genocide entails also the Conspiracy to commit genocide; Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; Attempt to commit genocide; and Complicity in genocide. . [ 1 ] What constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] While a precise definition varies among genocide scholars , a legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG). Article 2 of this convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national , ethnical , racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." [ 4 ] Lemkin defined genocide as follows: "Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups." The preamble to the CPPCG states that instances of genocide have taken place throughout history, [ 4 ] but it was not until Raphael Lemkin coined the term and the prosecution of perpetrators of the Holocaust at the Nuremberg trials that the United Nations agreed to the CPPCG which defined the crime of genocide under international law. During a video interview with Raphael Lemkin, the interviewer asked him about how he came to be interested in this genocide. He replied; "I became interested in genocide because it happened so many times. It happened to the Armenians , then after the Armenians, Hitler took action." [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Lemkin was also a close relative of genocide victims; he lost 49 of his relatives to the Holocaust . However, his work on defining genocide as a crime dates back to 1933, and it was prompted by the Simele massacre in Iraq. [ 8 ] There was a gap of more than forty years between the CPPCG coming into force and the first prosecution under the provisions of the treaty. To date all international prosecutions of genocide, the Rwandan Genocide and the Srebrenica Genocide , have been by ad hoc international tribunals . [ 9 ] The International Criminal Court came into existence in 2002 and it has the authority to try people from the states that have signed the treaty, but to date it has not tried anyone. Since the CPPCG came into effect in January 1951 about 80 member states of the United Nations have passed legislation that incorporates the provisions of the CPPCG into their domestic law, and some perpetrators of genocide have been found guilty under such municipal laws, such as Nikola Jorgic , who was found guilty of genocide in Bosnia by a German court ( Jorgic v. Germany ). Critics of the CPPCG point to the narrow definition of the groups that are protected under the treaty, particularly the lack of protection for political groups for what has been termed politicide (politicide is included as genocide under some municipal jurisdictions). [ 10 ] One of the problems was that until there was a body of case law from prosecutions, the precise definition of what the treaty meant had not been tested in court, for example, what precisely does the term "in part" mean? As more perpetrators are tried under international tribunals and municipal court cases, a body of legal arguments and legal interpretations are helping to address these issues. The exclusion of political groups and politically motivated violence from the international definition of genocide is particularly controversial. The reason for this exclusion is because a number of UN member nations insisted on it when the Genocide Convention was being drafted in 1948. They argued that political groups are too vaguely defined, as well as temporary and unstable. They further held that international law should not seek to regulate or limit political conflicts, since that would give the UN too much power to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. [ 11 ] In the years since then, critics have argued that the exclusion of political groups from the definition, as well as the lack of a specific reference to the destruction of a social group through the forcible removal of a population, was designed to protect the Soviet Union and the Western Allies from possible accusations of genocide in the wake of World War II. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Another criticism of the CPPCG is that when its provisions have been invoked by the United Nations Security Council , they have only been invoked to punish those who have already committed genocide and have left a paper trail. It was this criticism that led to the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1674 by the United Nations Security Council on 28 April 2006 which commits the Council to action to protect civilians in armed conflict and to protect populations from genocide, war crimes , ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity . To supplement this proactive stance, the international community at the UN adopted the Responsibility to Protect at the 2005 World Summit , which states that governments and states have the primary responsibility of preventing and deterring these four high crimes from impacting their own populations. Should the government of any country manifestly fail in this responsibility, the UN has resolved to act collectively to stop the immediate manifestations of these crimes. [ 15 ] Genocide scholars such as Gregory Stanton have postulated that conditions and acts that often occur before, during, and after genocide—such as dehumanization of victim groups, strong organization of genocidal groups, and denial of genocide by its perpetrators—can be identified and actions taken to stop genocides before they happen. Critics of this approach such as Dirk Moses assert that this is unrealistic and that, for example, " Darfur will end when it suits the great powers that have a stake in the region" . The CPPCG was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948 and came into effect on 12 January 1951 (Resolution 260 (III)). It contains an internationally recognized definition of genocide which was incorporated into the national criminal legislation of many countries, and was also adopted by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court , the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Convention (in article 2) defines genocide: (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. — Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II The first draft of the Convention included political killings, but the USSR [ 20 ] (a WWII winner, as well as a permanent Security Council member), along with some other nations would not accept that actions against groups identified as holding similar political opinions or social status would constitute genocide, [ 21 ] so these stipulations were subsequently removed in a political and diplomatic compromise. The Convention was manifestly adopted for humanitarian and civilizing purposes. Its objectives are to safeguard the very existence of certain human groups and to affirm and emphasize the most elementary principles of humanity and morality. In view of the rights involved, the legal obligations to refrain from genocide are recognized as erga omnes . When the Convention was drafted, it was already envisaged that it would apply not only to then existing forms of genocide, but also "to any method that might be evolved in the future with a view to destroying the physical existence of a group". [ 22 ] As emphasized in the preamble to the Convention, genocide has marred all periods of history, and it is this very tragic recognition that gives the concept its historical evolutionary nature. The Convention must be interpreted in good faith, in accordance with the ordinary meaning of its terms, in their context, and in the light of its object and purpose. Moreover, the text of the Convention should be interpreted in such a way that a reason and a meaning can be attributed to every word. No word or provision may be disregarded or treated as superfluous, unless this is absolutely necessary to give effect to the terms read as a whole. [ 23 ] Genocide is a crime under international law regardless of "whether committed in time of peace or in time of war" (art. I). Thus, irrespective of the context in which it occurs (for example, peace time, internal strife, international armed conflict or whatever the general overall situation) genocide is a punishable international crime. — UN Commission of Experts that examined violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. [ 24 ] In 2007 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), noted in its judgement on Jorgic v. Germany case that in 1992 the majority of legal scholars took the narrow view that "intent to destroy" in the CPPCG meant the intended physical-biological destruction of the protected group and that this was still the majority opinion. But the ECHR also noted that a minority took a broader view and did not consider biological-physical destruction was necessary as the intent to destroy a national, racial, religious or ethnic group was enough to qualify as genocide. [ 25 ] In the same judgement the ECHR reviewed the judgements of several international and municipal courts judgements. It noted that International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice had agreed with the narrow interpretation, that biological-physical destruction was necessary for an act to qualify as genocide. The ECHR also noted that at the time of its judgement, apart from courts in Germany which had taken a broad view, that there had been few cases of genocide under other Convention States municipal laws and that "There are no reported cases in which the courts of these States have defined the type of group destruction the perpetrator must have intended in order to be found guilty of genocide". [ 26 ] The phrase "in whole or in part" has been subject to much discussion by scholars of international humanitarian law. [ 2 ] The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found in Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic – Trial Chamber I – Judgment – IT-98-33 (2001) ICTY8 (2 August 2001) [ 27 ] that Genocide had been committed. In Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic – Appeals Chamber – Judgment – IT-98-33 (2004) ICTY 7 (19 April 2004) [ 28 ] paragraphs 8, 9, 10, and 11 addressed the issue of in part and found that "the part must be a substantial part of that group. The aim of the Genocide Convention is to prevent the intentional destruction of entire human groups, and the part targeted must be significant enough to have an impact on the group as a whole." The Appeals Chamber goes into details of other cases and the opinions of respected commentators on the Genocide Convention to explain how they came to this conclusion. The judges continue in paragraph 12, "The determination of when the targeted part is substantial enough to meet this requirement may involve a number of considerations. The numeric size of the targeted part of the group is the necessary and important starting point, though not in all cases the ending point of the inquiry. The number of individuals targeted should be evaluated not only in absolute terms, but also in relation to the overall size of the entire group. In addition to the numeric size of the targeted portion, its prominence within the group can be a useful consideration. If a specific part of the group is emblematic of the overall group, or is essential to its survival, that may support a finding that the part qualifies as substantial within the meaning of Article 4 [of the Tribunal's Statute]." [ 29 ] [ 30 ] In paragraph 13 the judges raise the issue of the perpetrators' access to the victims: "The historical examples of genocide also suggest that the area of the perpetrators’ activity and control, as well as the possible extent of their reach, should be considered. ... The intent to destroy formed by a perpetrator of genocide will always be limited by the opportunity presented to him. While this factor alone will not indicate whether the targeted group is substantial, it can—in combination with other factors—inform the analysis." [ 28 ] After the minimum 20 countries became parties to the Convention, it came into force as international law on 12 January 1951. At that time however, only two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) were parties to the treaty: France and the Republic of China . Eventually the Soviet Union ratified in 1954, the United Kingdom in 1970, the People's Republic of China in 1983 (having replaced the Taiwan-based Republic of China on the UNSC in 1971), and the United States in 1988. This long delay in support for the Genocide Convention by the world's most powerful nations caused the Convention to languish for over four decades. Only in the 1990s did the international law on the crime of genocide begin to be enforced. In 2008 the U.N. Security Council adopted resolution 1820 , which noted that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide”. [ 33 ] Since the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) came into effect in January 1951 about 80 member states of the United Nations have passed legislation that incorporates the provisions of the CPPCG into their municipal law . [ 34 ] William Schabas has suggested that a permanent body as recommended by the Whitaker Report to monitor the implementation of the Genocide Convention, and require States to issue reports on their compliance with the convention (such as were incorporated into the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture ), would make the convention more effective. [ 35 ] Writing in 1998 Kurt Jonassohn and Karin Björnson stated that the CPPCG was a legal instrument resulting from a diplomatic compromise. As such the wording of the treaty is not intended to be a definition suitable as a research tool, and although it is used for this purpose, as it has an international legal credibility that others lack, other definitions have also been postulated. Jonassohn and Björnson go on to say that none of these alternative definitions have gained widespread support for various reasons. [ 36 ] Jonassohn and Björnson postulate that the major reason why no single generally accepted genocide definition has emerged is because academics have adjusted their focus to emphasise different periods and have found it expedient to use slightly different definitions to help them interpret events. For example Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn studied the whole of human history, while Leo Kuper and R. J. Rummel in their more recent works concentrated on the 20th century, and Helen Fein , Barbara Harff and Ted Gurr have looked at post World War II events. Jonassohn and Björnson are critical of some of these studies arguing that they are too expansive and concludes that the academic discipline of genocide studies is too young to have a canon of work on which to build an academic paradigm . [ 36 ] The exclusion of social and political groups as targets of genocide in the CPPCG legal definition has been criticized by some historians and sociologists, for example M. Hassan Kakar in his book The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982 [ 37 ] argues that the international definition of genocide is too restricted, [ 38 ] and that it should include political groups or any group so defined by the perpetrator and quotes Chalk and Jonassohn: "Genocide is a form of one-sided mass killing in which a state or other authority intends to destroy a group, as that group and membership in it are defined by the perpetrator." [ 39 ] While there are various definitions of the term, Adam Jones states that the majority of genocide scholars consider that "intent to destroy" is a requirement for any act to be labelled genocide, and that there is growing agreement on the inclusion of the physical destruction criterion. [ 40 ] Barbara Harff and Ted Gurr defined genocide as "the promotion and execution of policies by a state or its agents which result in the deaths of a substantial portion of a group ...[when] the victimized groups are defined primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, i.e., ethnicity, religion or nationality." [ 41 ] Harff and Gurr also differentiate between genocides and politicides by the characteristics by which members of a group are identified by the state. In genocides, the victimized groups are defined primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, i.e., ethnicity, religion or nationality. In politicides the victim groups are defined primarily in terms of their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups. [ 42 ] [ 43 ] Daniel D. Polsby and Don B. Kates, Jr. state that "... we follow Harff's distinction between genocides and ' pogroms ,' which she describes as 'short-lived outbursts by mobs, which, although often condoned by authorities, rarely persist.' If the violence persists for long enough, however, Harff argues, the distinction between condonation and complicity collapses." [ 44 ] [ 45 ] According to R. J. Rummel, genocide has 3 different meanings. The ordinary meaning is murder by government of people due to their national, ethnic, racial, or religious group membership. The legal meaning of genocide refers to the international treaty, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide . This also includes non-killings that in the end eliminate the group, such as preventing births or forcibly transferring children out of the group to another group. A generalized meaning of genocide is similar to the ordinary meaning but also includes government killings of political opponents or otherwise intentional murder. It is to avoid confusion regarding what meaning is intended that Rummel created the term democide for the third meaning. [ 46 ] Highlighting the potential for state and non-state actors to commit genocide in the 21st century, for example, in failed states or as non-state actors acquire weapons of mass destruction, Adrian Gallagher defined genocide as 'When a source of collective power (usually a state) intentionally uses its power base to implement a process of destruction in order to destroy a group (as defined by the perpetrator), in whole or in substantial part, dependent upon relative group size'. [ 47 ] The definition upholds the centrality of intent, the multidimensional understanding of destroy, broadens the definition of group identity beyond that of the 1948 definition yet argues that a substantial part of a group has to be destroyed before it can be classified as genocide (dependent on relative group size). A major criticism of the international community's response to the Rwandan Genocide was that it was reactive, not proactive. The international community has developed a mechanism for prosecuting the perpetrators of genocide but has not developed the will or the mechanisms for intervening in a genocide as it happens. Critics point to the Darfur conflict and suggest that if anyone is found guilty of genocide after the conflict either by prosecutions brought in the International Criminal Court or in an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal, this will confirm this perception. [ citation needed ] The Kurdish Genocide,[4] Operation Anfal or simply Anfal, was a genocidal[5] campaign against the Kurdish people (and other non- Arab populations) in northern Iraq , led by the Ba'athist Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid in the final stages of the Iran-Iraq War . The campaign takes its name from Surat al-Anfal in the Qur'an , which was used as a code name by the former Iraqi Baathist government for a series of systematic attacks against the Kurdish population of northern Iraq, conducted between 1986 and 1989 and culminating in 1988.The campaign also destroyed over 4500 villages and killed over 182,000 Kurdish people. Sweden , Norway and the United Kingdom officially recognize the Anfal campaign as genocide.[7] On December 5, 2012, the Swedish parliament ( Riksdag ) adopted a resolution by the Green party to officially recognize the Anfal Campaign as genocide. The resolution was passed by all 349 members of parliament.[8] On February 28, 2013, the British House of Commons formally recognized the Anfal Campaign as genocide following a campaign led by Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi.[9] All signatories to the CPPCG are required to prevent and punish acts of genocide, both in peace and wartime, though some barriers make this enforcement difficult. In particular, some of the signatories—namely, Bahrain , Bangladesh , India , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore , the United States , Vietnam , Yemen , and former Yugoslavia —signed with the proviso that no claim of genocide could be brought against them at the International Court of Justice without their consent. [ 48 ] Despite official protests from other signatories (notably Cyprus and Norway ) on the ethics and legal standing of these reservations, the immunity from prosecution they grant has been invoked from time to time, as when the United States refused to allow a charge of genocide brought against it by former Yugoslavia following the 1999 Kosovo War . [ 49 ] It is commonly accepted [ citation needed ] that, at least since World War II , genocide has been illegal under customary international law as a peremptory norm , as well as under conventional international law . Acts of genocide are generally difficult to establish for prosecution, because a chain of accountability must be established. International criminal courts and tribunals function primarily because the states involved are incapable or unwilling to prosecute crimes of this magnitude themselves. Because the universal acceptance of international laws , defining and forbidding genocide was achieved in 1948, with the promulgation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), those criminals who were prosecuted after the war in international courts, for taking part in the Holocaust were found guilty of crimes against humanity and other more specific crimes like murder. Nevertheless the Holocaust is universally recognized to have been a genocide and the term, that had been coined the year before by Raphael Lemkin , [ 50 ] appeared in the indictment of the 24 Nazi leaders , Count 3, stated that all the defendants had "conducted deliberate and systematic genocide—namely, the extermination of racial and national groups..." [ 51 ] International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1993 to present) [ edit ] The term Bosnian Genocide is used to refer either to the genocide committed by Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995, [ 52 ] or to ethnic cleansing that took place during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War (an interpretation rejected by a majority of scholars). [ 53 ] On 26 February 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in the Bosnian Genocide Case upheld the ICTY's earlier finding that the Srebrenica massacre in Srebrenica and Zepa constituted genocide, but found that the Serbian government had not participated in a wider genocide on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, as the Bosnian government had claimed. [ 55 ] On 12 July 2007, European Court of Human Rights when dismissing the appeal by Nikola Jorgić against his conviction for genocide by a German court ( Jorgic v. Germany ) noted that the German courts wider interpretation of genocide has since been rejected by international courts considering similar cases. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] The ECHR also noted that in the 21st century "Amongst scholars, the majority have taken the view that ethnic cleansing , in the way in which it was carried out by the Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to expel Muslims and Croats from their homes, did not constitute genocide. However, there are also a considerable number of scholars who have suggested that these acts did amount to genocide, and the ICTY has found in the Momcilo Krajisnik case that the actus reu, of genocide was met in Prijedor "With regard to the charge of genocide, the Chamber found that in spite of evidence of acts perpetrated in the municipalities which constituted the actus reus of genocide". [ 59 ] Slobodan Milošević , as the former President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia, was the most senior political figure to stand trial at the ICTY. He died on 11 March 2006 during his trial where he was accused of genocide or complicity in genocide in territories within Bosnia and Herzegovina, so no verdict was returned. In 1995, the ICTY issued a warrant for the arrest of Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić on several charges including genocide. On 21 July 2008, Karadžić was arrested in Belgrade, and he is currently in The Hague on trial accused of genocide among other crimes. [ 60 ] Ratko Mladić was arrested on 26 May 2011 by Serbian special police in Lazarevo, Serbia. [ 61 ] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is a court under the auspices of the United Nations for the prosecution of offenses committed in Rwanda during the genocide which occurred there during April 1994, commencing on 6 April. The ICTR was created on 8 November 1994 by the Security Council of the United Nations in order to judge those people responsible for the acts of genocide and other serious violations of the international law performed in the territory of Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. So far, the ICTR has finished nineteen trials and convicted twenty seven accused persons. On 14 December 2009 two more men were accused and convicted for their crimes. Another twenty five persons are still on trial. Twenty-one are awaiting trial in detention, two more added on 14 December 2009. Ten are still at large. [ 62 ] The first trial, of Jean-Paul Akayesu , began in 1997. In October 1998, Akayesu was sentenced to life imprisonment. Jean Kambanda , interim Prime Minister, pled guilty. Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (2003 to present) [ edit ] The Khmer Rouge , led by Pol Pot , Ta Mok and other leaders, organized the mass killing of ideologically suspect groups. The total number of victims is estimated at approximately 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975–1979, including deaths from slave labour. [ 63 ] The investigating judges were presented with the names of five possible suspects by the prosecution on 18 July 2007. [ 65 ] [ 68 ] Kang Kek Iew was formally charged with war crime and crimes against humanity and detained by the Tribunal on 31 July 2007. He was indicted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity on 12 August 2008. [ 69 ] His appeal against his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity was rejected on 3 February 2012, and he is serving a sentence of life imprisonment. [ 70 ] Nuon Chea , a former prime minister, who was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 19 September 2007. His trial, which is ongoing, started on 27 June 2011. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] Khieu Samphan , a former head of state, who was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 19 September 2007. His trial, which is ongoing, started on 27 June 2011. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] Ieng Sary , a former foreign minister, who was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 12 November 2007. His trial, which is ongoing, started on 27 June 2011. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] Ieng Thirith , a former minister for social affairs and wife of Ieng Sary, who was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. She was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 12 November 2007. Proceedings against her have been suspended pending a health evaluation. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] There has been disagreement between some of the international jurists and the Cambodian government over whether any other people should be tried by the Tribunal. [ 68 ] Since 2002, the International Criminal Court can exercise its jurisdiction if national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute genocide, thus being a "court of last resort," leaving the primary responsibility to exercise jurisdiction over alleged criminals to individual states. Due to the United States concerns over the ICC , the United States prefers to continue to use specially convened international tribunals for such investigations and potential prosecutions. [ 74 ] There has been much debate over categorizing the situation in Darfur as genocide. [ 75 ] The on-going conflict in Darfur , Sudan, which started in 2003, was declared a "genocide" by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on 9 September 2004 in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . [ 76 ] Since that time however, no other permanent member of the UN Security Council followed suit. In fact, in January 2005, an International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1564 of 2004, issued a report to the Secretary-General stating that "the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide." [ 77 ] Nevertheless, the Commission cautioned that "The conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the Government authorities, directly or through the militias under their control, should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in that region. International offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide." [ 77 ] In March 2005, the Security Council formally referred the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, taking into account the Commission report but without mentioning any specific crimes. [ 78 ] Two permanent members of the Security Council, the United States and China , abstained from the vote on the referral resolution. [ 79 ] As of his fourth report to the Security Council, the Prosecutor has found "reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified [in the UN Security Council Resolution 1593 ] have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes," but did not find sufficient evidence to prosecute for genocide. [ 80 ] In April 2007, the Judges of the ICC issued arrest warrants against the former Minister of State for the Interior, Ahmad Harun , and a Militia Janjaweed leader, Ali Kushayb , for crimes against humanity and war crimes. [ 81 ] On 14 July 2008, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), filed ten charges of war crimes against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir : three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. The ICC's prosecutors claimed that al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part" three tribal groups in Darfur because of their ethnicity. On 4 March 2009, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan as the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I concluded that his position as head of state does not grant him immunity against prosecution before the ICC. The warrant was for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It did not include the crime of genocide because the majority of the Chamber did not find that the prosecutors had provided enough evidence to include such a charge. [ 82 ] Naked Soviet POWs in Mauthausen concentration camp . "... the murder of at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs is one of the least-known of modern genocides; there is still no full-length book on the subject in English." —Adam Jones [ 83 ] The preamble to the CPPCG states that "genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world," and that "at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity." In many cases where accusations of genocide have circulated, partisans have fiercely disputed such an interpretation and the details of the event. This often leads to the promotion of vastly different versions of the event in question. The 'Age of Totalitarianism' included nearly all of the infamous examples of genocide in modern history, headed by the Jewish Holocaust, but also comprising the mass murders and purges of the Communist world, other few killings carried out by Nazi Germany and its allies, and also the Armenian genocide of 1915. All these slaughters, it is argued here, had a common origin, the collapse of the elite structure and normal modes of government of much of central, eastern and southern Europe as a result of the First World War, without which surely neither Communism nor Fascism would have existed except in the minds of unknown agitators and crackpots. Stages of genocide, influences leading to genocide, and efforts to prevent it [ edit ] For genocide to happen, there must be certain preconditions. Foremost among them is a national culture that does not place a high value on human life. A totalitarian society, with its assumed superior ideology, is also a precondition for genocidal acts. [ 86 ] In addition, members of the dominant society must perceive their potential victims as less than fully human: as "pagans," "savages," "uncouth barbarians," "unbelievers," "effete degenerates," "ritual outlaws," "racial inferiors," "class antagonists," "counterrevolutionaries," and so on. [ 87 ] In themselves, these conditions are not enough for the perpetrators to commit genocide. To do that—that is, to commit genocide—the perpetrators need a strong, centralized authority and bureaucratic organization as well as pathological individuals and criminals. Also required is a campaign of vilification and dehumanization of the victims by the perpetrators, who are usually new states or new regimes attempting to impose conformity to a new ideology and its model of society. [ 86 ] The Stanton paper was presented to the State Department, shortly after the Rwandan Genocide and much of its analysis is based on why that genocide occurred. The preventative measures suggested, given the briefing paper's original target audience, were those that the United States could implement directly or indirectly by using its influence on other governments. Stage Characteristics Preventive measures 1. Classification People are divided into "us and them". "The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic institutions that transcend ... divisions." 2. Symbolization "When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups..." "One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases." "Local and international leaders should condemn the use of hate speech and make it culturally unacceptable. Leaders who incite genocide should be banned from international travel and have their foreign finances frozen." 4. Organization "Genocide is always organized... Special army units or militias are often trained and armed..." "The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres , and create commissions to investigate violations" 5. Polarization "Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda..." "Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or assistance to human rights groups...Coups d’état by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions." 6. Preparation "Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity..." "At this stage, a Genocide Emergency must be declared. ..." 7. Extermination "It is 'extermination' to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human". "At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can stop genocide. Real safe areas or refugee escape corridors should be established with heavily armed international protection." "The response to denial is punishment by an international tribunal or national courts" In April 2012, it was reported that Stanton would soon be officially adding two new stages, Discrimination and Persecution, to his original theory, which would make for a 10-stage theory of genocide. [ 91 ] In view of this rather poor record of ending genocide, the question needs to be asked why the "genocide studies" paradigm cannot predict and prevent genocides with any accuracy and reliability. The paradigm of "genocide studies," as currently constituted in North America in particular, has both strengths and limitations. While the moral fervor and public activism is admirable and salutary, the paradigm appears blind to its own implication in imperial projects that are themselves as much part of the problem as they are part of the solution. The US government called Darfur a genocide to appease domestic lobbies, and because the statement cost it nothing. Darfur will end when it suits the great powers that have a stake in the region. Other authors have focused on the structural conditions leading up to genocide and the psychological and social processes that create an evolution toward genocide. Helen Fein [ 93 ] showed that pre-existing anti-Semitism and systems that maintained anti-Semitic policies were related to the number of Jews killed in different European countries during the Holocaust. Ervin Staub showed that economic deterioration and political confusion and disorganization were starting points of increasing discrimination and violence in many instances of genocides and mass killing. They lead to scapegoating a group and ideologies that identified that group as an enemy. A history of devaluation of the group that becomes the victim, past violence against the group that becomes the perpetrator leading to psychological wounds, authoritarian cultures and political systems, and the passivity of internal and external witnesses (bystanders) all contribute to the probability that the violence develops into genocide. [ 94 ] Intense conflict between groups that is unresolved, becomes intractable and violent can also lead to genocide. The conditions that lead to genocide provide guidance to early prevention, such as humanizing a devalued group,creating ideologies that embrace all groups, and activating bystander responses. There is substantial research to indicate how this can be done, but information is only slowly transformed into action. [ 95 ] ^ Origins and Evolution of the Concept in the Science Encyclopedia by Net Industries. states "Politicide, as [Barbara] Harff and [Ted R.] Gurr define it, refers to the killing of groups of people who are targeted not because of shared ethnic or communal traits, but because of 'their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups' (p. 360)". But does not give the book title to go with the page number. ^ ECHR Jorgic v. Germany Judgment , 12 July 2007. § 44 citing Prosecutor v. Kupreskic and Others (IT-95-16-T, judgment of 14 January 2000), § 751. In 14 January 2000, the ICTY ruled in the Prosecutor v. Kupreskic and Others case that the killing of 116 Muslims in order to expel the Muslim population from a village amounted to persecution, not genocide. ^ Adam Jones (2010), Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction (2nd ed.), p.271. – " ' " Next to the Jews in Europe," wrote Alexander Werth ', "the biggest single German crime was undoubtedly not the extermination by hunger, exposure and in other ways of . . . Russian war prisoners." Yet the murder of at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs is one of the least-known of modern genocides; there is still no full-length book on the subject in English. It also stands as one of the most intensive genocides of all time: "a holocaust that devoured millions," as Catherine Merridale acknowledges. The large majority of POWs, some 2.8 million, were killed in just eight months of 1941–42, a rate of slaughter matched (to my knowledge) only by the 1994 Rwanda genocide."


Death and What Comes Next A Discworld short story By Terry Pratchett When Death met the philosopher, the philosopher said, rather excitedly: "At this point, you realise, I'm both dead and not dead." There was a sigh from Death. Oh dear, one of those, he thought. This is going to be about quantum again. He hated dealing with philosophers. They always tried to wriggle out of it. "You see," said the philosopher, while Death, motionless, watched the sands of his life drain through the hourglass, "everything is made of tiny particles, which have the strange property of being in many places at one time. But things made of tiny particles tend to stay in one place at one time, which does not seem right according to quantum theory. May I continue?" Y ES, BUT NOT INDEFINITELY, said Death, E VERYTHING IS TRANSIENT. He did not take his gaze away from the tumbling sand. "Well, then, if we agreed that there are an infinite number of universes, then the problem is solved! If there are an unlimited number of universes, this bed can be in millions of them, all at the same time!" D OES IT MOVE? "What? Death nodded at the bed. C AN YOU FEEL IT MOVING? he said. "No, because there are a million versions of me, too, And...here is the good bit ...in some of them I am not about to pass away! Anything is possible!" Death tapped the handle of his scythe as he considered this. A ND YOUR POINT IS...? "Well, I'm not exactly dying, correct? You are no longer such a certainty." There was a sigh from Death. Space he thought. That was the trouble. It was never like this on worlds with everlastingly cloudy skies. But once humans saw all that space, their brains expanded to try and fill it up. "No answer, eh?" said the dying philosopher. "Feel a bit old-fashioned, do we?"


Well, it has to be someone's problem As I frantically attempt to register for any classes taking place over the summer 2012 semester, I can't help but feel punished -- as if I've done something wrong by wanting to attend classes over the summer. Punished! I'm sure by now you're saying something along the lines of, "Why would your chosen academic institution punish you for taking classes?" I understand your confusion. I will focus my feelings into words and hopefully by the time you finish reading the aforementioned words, you will begin to understand the same impotent, disillusioned hopelessness I have come to associate with UFV's summer semester. Or lack thereof. First, let's back up a bit. Why does one attend university? In my experience, those who make the life decision to attend university do so from a stance of self-improvement, and with the hopes of a form of self-actualization, which should, ideally, lead to a career path that satisfies more than the wallet or bank-account. We choose to attend university with the goal of being satisfied with who we are personally as well as our place in the world around us. We attend university to contribute to the betterment of our community and therefore our society as a whole. If you agree with me so far, the next part of this article should come as a bit of shock to you. With any luck, it will spur your thought process in holding your chosen academic institutions accountable -- in this case, when it comes to the classes offered year-round and not just during peak periods. Being a relatively new student at UFV, I expected to be waitlisted for a few classes this semester; I simply have a later registration time than other students. I'm okay with a later registration time. However, as I sized up my options, I quickly noticed that almost every class I was hoping to attend this summer was in one of two states: full and closed to registration, or with a waitlist ranging from 15 to 47 students in length. This is unacceptable. Students want to learn, and in order to learn they need a few things. They need books, and reliable transportation. They need safe and secure lodgings, groceries to feed their brains and, one more thing ... classes. Students can't even be students without classes. All the other requirements are up to the student, and are fairly easily managed -- but classes can only be provided by the university, and this is where UFV has dropped the ball. To add to this mess, the most important part of securing aid is being registered in classes; being unable to register in classes equates in not being able to secure funding.  Not receiving aid can result in potentially losing your lodgings, a situation I now find myself in. How do you get out of such a vicious circle? It doesn't matter; at least, that's how I feel after attempting to secure my place in any classes I want or need to attend this summer. It seems, on the surface anyway, that UFV's attitude is of the "it's not our problem" ilk. However, I'm not a man of great wealth, nor was I born in to a family whose situation allows them the freedom to pay for my classes. I'm reliant exclusively on student aid to not only pay for my tuition, but also to pay for books, supplies, lodgings, groceries and other extra costs I incur along the way through each semester. If I were unable to obtain student aid this semester because I was unable to register for any classes, I would find myself in a dire situation, facing the reality of having to leave town and find a free place to reside for the next four months; I believe if this were to happen, it would have a profoundly negative effect on my decision to continue with education, it would definitely cause me to reevaluate UFV as my academic institution. I feel it's safe to assume there are dozens, if not hundreds of students in an eerily similar situation to mine. Can't find satisfying employment, can't find satisfaction at university and are forced to live a life of hopelessness, a life of mediocrity and struggle; avoiding a life like this is the precise reason most people choose to enter an institution of higher learning. If you're a student who can identify with my situation, even if only a small amount, I implore you to write, call or physically vocalize you dissatisfaction with the UFV summer semester. For that matter, I implore you to contact UFV when you're dissatisfied with any of your expectations, related to university guidelines, are not met; this is a prime example. Has it occurred to you that the problem is not with UFV but with the level of funding that the university receives from the provincial government? I'm sure most departments at UFV would love to offer more classes in the summer semester if they had the funding to allow them to do so. Don't think that the lack of classes is simply because professors don't want to teach in the summer -- in fact, many sessional instructors would be more than happy to do so since it would mean a consistent paycheck for the entire year. It's because each department at a university receives a certain number of sections (classes) that it can teach in a given year. This set number of sections means that most departments only offer classes in the Fall and Winter semesters since that is when most students are around and willing to take them. Hence, if the university funds more sections in a year, departments can offer more classes, including in the summer semester. But in order to fund more sections, the university needs more funding from the provincial government (Believe it or not, your tuition fees are not enough to cover the costs associated with running a university). So don't write to or call the UFV administration unnecessarily about a problem that they didn't create, nor can they fix. Instead, write or call your local MLA and other representatives at the Ministry of Advanced Education who have the power to provide the level of funding that would allow UFV to increase its FTEs in order to provide more classes not just in the summer, but in all semesters. By the way, I'm a student, not a representative of the university or something. :P As a UFV student with a legitimate and unaddressed educational concern I contacted the UFV Arts Advice Centre, Educational Advising Services, the Career Centre, the Department of Research and Graduate Studies, and finally the office of the President. Each of these offices and their respective representatives were unable to offer assistance. I then contacted the Ministry of Advanced Education, whose representatives were also unable to offer any assistance. Our administrators and staff at UFV as well as the public servants at the Ministry of Advanced Education should not be met with our continued and collective silence. When the bulk of us remain silent, the voices of the few people who do speak out remain hearable as 'moans', as expressions of aversion or grievance, rather than being heard as potential contributions to a conversation in which a request for further analysis and a desire for genuine change are communicated. It is encouraging for the future of UFV to see a new writer voicing these concerns. I wish you the best in your educational pursuits, Daryl, and hope that you will continue to endeavour to reach your academic goals through thick and thin.


Game Review Sports Champions 2 Review The original Sports Champions may have been conceived as a direct response to the Wii Sports phenomenon, but beyond its surface accessibility it offered a subtlety that went missing on players looking for little more than a party game. Obfuscated by its shoddy art style and limited multiplayer options, the PlayStation Move launch title's simulation leanings got overlooked -- and it didn't quite garner the universal acclaim it deserved as a result. Sports Champions 2 aims to strike a much better balance between casual and hardcore gameplay, with a roster of five new events and one returning favourite. From the outset, it's immediately obvious that the developer was burned by criticisms pertaining to the original game's lacklustre art direction. High-definition it may have been, but it lacked personality -- something that Sports Champions 2 possesses in abundance. You're now given the option to create your own protagonist, selecting from a slew of different dress types and body models. Characters look distinctly Dreamworks-like, with whopping great jaw lines and disproportionate limbs. Meanwhile, environments are packed with distinguishing details, such as a bowling alley that's surrounded by an aquarium filled with tropical fish. It doesn't sound particularly practical, but it gives the title a much more interesting look. Improved as it may be, though, the presentation is merely window dressing for the bevy of activities concealed within. Sports Champions 2 opts to toss out all of the original game's events aside from archery, and introduces boxing, bowling, skiing, tennis and golf in their place. Each of these sports can be experienced in Free Play, Cup Mode or Party Play -- the latter of which is a fast-paced four-player local multiplayer experience that finds you passing the controller around (or using multiple peripherals) in order to stage your own version of the Olympics in the comfort of your front room. Depending on your social tolerance, you'll spend most of your time with the game playing through the Cup Mode single-player campaign. As with the original title, this sees you working through a series of increasingly difficult cups in order to become the ultimate, ahem, sports champion in each event. Each cup contains six stages, spanning four ordinary opponents, a score challenge level, and a boss. You'll earn stars depending on your performance on each stage, unlocking new gear to personalise your character along the way. Unsurprisingly, Sports Champions 2 is a real showcase title for the PlayStation Move. Through a combination of witchcraft and sorcery, developer Zindagi Games has managed to enhance its already impressive motion control implementation from the original release. For starters, the three-piece calibration sequence has been completely removed, replaced by a simple one-time set-up procedure. Once you've calibrated for the first time, there's no need to repeat the process as you switch between sports -- the game simply works. You can recalibrate at any time should you need to, but we rarely found this was necessary. Unlike competing motion control products, the PlayStation Move maintains its initial calibration alarmingly well. Playing the events on their basic difficulty levels activates a number of assists, which are gradually removed as you progress. Golf is great example of this; if you fail to strike the ball cleanly on the Champion Cup you'll be severely punished by an accurate degree of fade, whereas the Bronze Cup will let you get away with sliced shots relatively unscathed. The other activities incorporate a similar difficulty curve, as tennis takes into the account the speed, follow-through and angle of your swing, while bowling analyses your approach with much more detail. The game gets fairly difficult -- for example, we worked up an unexpected sweat trying to overcome the boss of the tennis gold cup. The accuracy is impressive throughout, but some events do fare better than others. Skiing is perhaps the most contrived of the set, prompting you to replicate outlandish gestures in order to pump your way down slopes and perform flips off ramps. It's a shame that the sport is so poorly implemented, because it's actually the best looking of the six. The sense of speed as you race down colourful mountaintops is impressive, but the controls aren't accurate enough to complete the illusion. It feels like you're copying gestures in order to replicate button prompts, which is never a positive accolade for a motion controlled game. Thankfully, the other sports control much better -- but it's worth noting that you're going to need two motion controllers if you intend to get the most out of Sports Champions 2. Activities like the aforementioned skiing, boxing and archery are all playable with one device, but simply don't feel right without the extra peripheral. Boxing is the worst offender, assigning pre-recorded button prompts to your weaker hand. It feels a little bit like you're fighting with one arm tied behind your back. Introduce a second device, however, and the experience is elevated. Indeed, boxing really showcases the accuracy of the PlayStation Move technology, without succumbing to the same issues that plagued the flawed The Fight: Lights Out . By maintaining a fixed distance between fighters, the game's able to ensure your punches always connect correctly. Swings and blocks are interpreted accurately in the game, allowing you to put together some neat combos. You can also dodge and shimmy by moving your body like a boxer, or pulling the T trigger. As with the original game, different opponents have unique strategies. In boxing, for example, you'll come across heavy hitters and defensive personalities throughout the course of the campaign. Your best option against the former fighters is to block their attacks and let them wear down their stamina, allowing you to take advantage of openings by flooring them with quick combos. You'll encounter multiple tactics in tennis too, as some opponents opt to sit at the baseline, while others attempt to shorten rallies by sprinting into the net. Finding ways to deal with the different strategies is part of the game's fun, and it's a shame that most of the other sports featured -- archery, bowling, skiing and golf -- don't immediately lend themselves to the same degree of variety. That's not to say that the activities aren't creative, though. Archery enjoys the greatest assortment of diversity, providing a slew of different game types centred on the core bow and arrow mechanic. Throughout the course of the sport's campaign you'll find yourself staving off cardboard skeletons, matching up pairs of hidden farm animals, and attempting to outscore your opponent in carnival-esque shooting galleries. Meanwhile, golf has a selection of colourful driving ranges, while bowling sees you attempting to knock down awkward arrangements of pins. The great thing about Sports Champions 2 is that there's always something new to do. In addition to each of the sports being mechanically unique, the developer has packed an array of different rules into each of the events. That makes it a perfect fit for multiplayer sessions. Thankfully, Party Play makes setting up a local competition a doddle. You can play with multiple controllers or one, though you are limited to a specific selection of events if you've only got a single device. The mode takes inspiration from other PlayStation Move party games like Start the Party , allowing each player to snap an image and record their name in order to create a unique personality. Of course, you're also given the option to create unique player avatars for each participant, though there are defaults available if you're in a rush. Scores are added up across the course of multiple random events, with the winner given the option to deface the loser's photo. You can then save these tweaks to your PS3 hard-drive, or even upload them to Facebook for maximum humiliation. Sadly, the pace of the mode is offset by some unfortunate loading times. The game's never overly offensive in this area, but it lingers just long enough to become a frustration; an install option probably would have solved this issue, making it an unnecessary oversight. The lack of online multiplayer is similarly disappointing. While the game is clearly designed around local play, it would have been nice to shoot a few holes of golf over the PlayStation Network. Conclusion Sports Champions 2 is some of the most fun you can have with a PlayStation Move controller in your hand. The title is accessible enough to make it a perfect fit for parties, but it boasts enough depth to keep enthusiastic gamers occupied long after everyone's gone home. The activities are largely well selected, and the calibration improvements are technologically impressive. It's just a shame that online multiplayer's still absent, otherwise this would have been an unmissable release. All the games are fantastic(cause i am not fan of golf). Boxing and even tennis which some say is not good are perfect. And of course ski is good. My body really hurts from boxing today.. Perfect game in my opinion


Something seems to protect girls from developing autism and other developmental disorders "Protective" factors could play an important role in pointing toward new treatments, interventions Editor's note: Dr. Peter Szatmari has worked in the field of autism spectrum disorders for more than 30 years. He is a professor and the head of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. (CNN) -- Autism (now better known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused, at least in part, by genetic factors. The disorder usually shows up in infancy, starting with noticeable problems in social communication, with a preference for engaging in repetitive, sensory-oriented behaviors. The severity of these deficits varies greatly among individuals diagnosed with ASD. Recovery is rare, though it is true that some individuals may make substantial progress over time. The disorder is associated with a high burden of suffering in terms of the limitations it imposes on those affected. There has also been a lot of attention paid to the extra burden and loss of income it represents for parents and the cost to the social, educational and health care systems. But one aspect of autism that doesn't get a lot of attention is the way the condition manifests differently in girls and boys. Autism rates increasing, but why? CDC: 1 in 88 American kids has autism Understanding autism through music We have known for many years that autism is more common in boys than girls. The disorder appears different in the sexes, and these differences may have important implications for both diagnosis and treatment. A striking finding of the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report , showing a 78% increase in cases over the past decade, is that the ratio of boys to girls in ASD is about 5-to-1. That is higher than what is usually reported in other studies, where a ratio of 2-, 3- or 4-to-1 is more common. There is no adequate explanation for this imbalance in the sex ratio, though it must be recognized it is also true for other developmental disorders of early childhood such as learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. In contrast, girls appear to be overrepresented in disorders that begin after puberty such as depression and anxiety. Something seems to protect girls from developing ASD and other developmental disorders. That "something" could be hormone levels in utero, epigenetic factors that turn autism susceptibility genes "on" and "off" during development, or the fact that young girls have in general better social skills than boys and so need a bigger "dose" of what causes ASD to cross that threshold to being impaired. It is also possible that a proportion of girls with mild autistic traits lose those traits early on and so escape detection by 8 years of age (the age of the children in the CDC study). Whatever the reason, the sex ratio in ASD is perhaps the most consistent finding in the field but perhaps the least understood. Yet it is possible that those "protective" factors, once identified and understood, could play an important role in pointing toward new treatments and interventions that capitalize on those protective factors and so make a real difference to long-term outcomes. The clinical expression of autism is also different in boys. Generally speaking, girls with autism have greater learning disabilities and more problems academically than boys. The sex ratio in ASD approaches 1-to-1 as the degree of cognitive impairment increases. Conversely, the sex ratio has sometimes been reported to be even greater than 5-to-1 among so-called "higher-functioning" individuals with ASD, though not all studies agree on this point. An intriguing finding is that perhaps higher-functioning girls with ASD are missed by clinicians who are not experts in diagnosis. There is some evidence that among this subgroup, girls have better social skills than higher-functioning boys with ASD and so are not diagnosed as readily. Often, the symptoms of ASD appear as extreme shyness or anxiety in girls, masking that they may not be responsive to the social cues of others. And while fixated interests are common in both sexes on the autism spectrum, girls tend to focus on topics such as on ponies, princesses, dolls or drawings -- common passions for non-autistic girls, too. Boys, on the other hand, may become stuck on less typical activities, such as lining up blocks or running sand through their fingers. As a result, doctors may miss that some of their female patients show signs of autism. Girls on the autism spectrum also engage in fewer repetitive behaviors such as rocking and spinning and less sensory irritability than boys with ASD. Since these signs are subtle, doctors may not recognize the disorder. Diagnosis at a later age reduces the chances of early treatment, which is thought to produce a better outcome. Girls may be different than boys with ASD in their lived experience of the disability as well. There's increasing concern about peers bullying children with ASD at school and in the community. Some evidence suggests that girls with ASD are bullied less often than boys. They appear to "blend in" more readily with their peer group and are less often the victim of bullying by other girls. Sex differences in ASD is an important topic, but one that has only recently become the focus of attention. Understanding those sex differences both biologically and experientially holds the promise of improving the long-term outcome of all children with ASD. Most important, clinicians need to be sensitive to how the disorder shows up in girls so that those affected can receive early intervention as soon as possible. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Peter Szatmari.


8.7 million species on Earth and in the oceans Plos Biology, August 2011 A new study by Dalhousie researchers used an innovative analytical technique to provide a new estimate of the total number of species on Earth. The estimate of 8.7 million species (plus or minus 1.3 million species) is the most precise calculation of this number to date. The paper, published in PLoS Biology, reveals that 6.5 million species are found on land and 2.2 million live in the oceans. And incredibly, the study predicts that 86% of all species on land and 91% of all species in the oceans have yet to be discovered and described. Census of Marine Life Science, August 2011 The Census of Marine Life finished up in late 2010 with the discovery of 6700 new species and a comprehensive database of marine biodiversity. But what's next? This article from Science looks at the future possibilities for continuation of the research program, and plans for further exploring how marine organisms contribute to the overall functioning of the ecosystem. Analysis of data from the electronic tagging and tracking of 23 species in the North Pacific Ocean over the past decade identified migration pathways, discovered multi-species hotspots and linked marine conditions to animal movement and behaviour within the California Current ecosystem and the North Pacific transition zone. Serial exploitation of global sea cucumber fisheries In only a few decades, most sea cucumber fisheries around the world have experienced a boom-and-bust pattern; over time, this has happened faster and further away from the main markets in Hong Kong and China. Currently, 81% of sea cucumber fisheries globally have experienced population declines due to overfishing. The findings suggest these fisheries are often unsustainable and may develop too rapidly for effective management responses. New - The FMAP PLoS One Collection Decline of marine phytoplankton over past century Boyce D, Lewis MR, Worm B Nature, July 2010 An unprecedented collection of historical and recent oceanographic data was used to document phytoplankton declines of approximately 1% of the global average per year since 1899. Long-term phytoplankton declines were correlated with rising sea surface temperatures. Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity FMAP researchers examined global patterns and predictors of species richness across 13 major species groups ranging from zooplankton to marine mammals and identified water temperature as the main environmental predictor of biodiversity patterns in the ocean. The influence of geological, geochemical, and biogenic habitat heterogeneity on seep biodiversity A set of theoretical metacommunity models demonstrate that the response of biodiversity to habitat heterogeneity in deep seeps has a consistent form but quantitatively varies depending on the types of habitats present and the size-classes of the fauna analyzed. StateA???space models were used to look at foraging and traveling patterns of male and female adult grey seals using satellite telemetry tracks. The modeling results revealed markedly different spatial behavior between the sexes, suggesting that they deal differently with seasonal prey availability and reproductive costs. Management Effectiveness of the World's Marine Fisheries A new study provides the first global evaluation of how management practices influence fisheries' sustainability. The study assessed the effectiveness of the world's fisheries management regimes using evaluations by nearly 1,200 fisheries experts and analyzing these in combination with data on the sustainability of fisheries catches. Historical baselines for large marine animals A review of the approaches used in the emerging field of marine historical ecology reveals patterns of historical changes in large marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, thus offering new insights into past ecosystems, and providing an important context for contemporary ocean management. A Global Assessment of Salmon Aquaculture Impacts on Wild Salmonids Study makes newspaper headline in British Columbia The impact of salmon farming on wild salmon and trout is a hotly debated issue in all countries where salmon farms and wild salmon coexist. Studies have clearly shown that escaped farm salmon breed with wild populations to the detriment of the wild stocks, and that diseases and parasites are passed from farm to wild salmon. An understanding of the importance of these impacts at the population level, however, has been lacking. In this study, we used existing data on salmon populations to compare survival of salmon and trout that swim past salmon farms early in their life cycle with the survival of nearby populations that are not exposed to salmon farms. We have detected a significant decline in survival of populations that are exposed to salmon farms, correlated with an increase in farmed salmon production in five regions. Combining the regional estimates statistically, we find a reduction in survival or abundance of wild populations of more than 50% per generation on average, associated with salmon farming. Many of the salmon populations we investigated are at dramatically reduced abundance, and reducing threats to them is necessary for their survival. A clear human footprint on the Caribbean coral reefs Banco Chinchorro - Mexico. Photo: Humberto Bahena, ECOSUR The recent degradation of coral reefs worldwide is increasingly well documented, yet the underlying causes remain debated. This study used a large-scale database on the status of coral reef communities in the Caribbean. The data were analysed in combination with a comprehensive set of socioeconomic and environmental databases to decouple confounding factors and identify the drivers of change in coral reef communities. An FMAP study on reef fish biodiversity found that humans impact one of the oldest known laws in ecology, the species-area relationship. The authors found that fishing pressure consistently lowered the rate of increase of diversity with area, on both coral and rocky reefs. Such effects suggest that human exploitation can affect the reef environment in ways not previously considered, and similar patterns might also be found in other marine and possibly terrestrial systems. The study thus established a new way of quantifying biodiversity loss that may be broadly applicable. The study was global in scope, surveying protected and fished reefs in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean Overfishing the great sharks on the U.S. east coast has had major ecosystem consequences: abundances of their skate, ray, and small shark prey species have increased tremendously, and the explosion in cownose ray abundance has devastated a century-long bay scallop fishery. Risk of extinction accelerated due to interacting human threats Changes in population density, per generation, of populations exposed to harvesting and reductions in immigration, when facing constant and warming temperatures. The contours in the graph were based on averages of four replicated microcosms, for each interaction of treatments. (Click image for larger version) The simultaneous effect of habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, and climate warming could accelerate the decline of populations and substantially increase their risk of extinction, a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, B has warned. Using experimental microcosm populations of rotifers (a type of zooplankton), the study found that individually each of these threats caused significant population declines. The study also found that the rate of declines was much accelerated when populations were exposed to more than one threat. These results indicate that multiple interacting threats are capable of causing rapid population extinction, and that all threats should be simultaneously reduced, if their synergies are to be avoided and if the current rate of species loss is to be reversed. more ... Saving Endangered Whales at No Cost North Atlantic right whale breaching. (Photo: US Marine Mammal Commission) Maine lobstermen can protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale without hurting their bottom line, according to a scientific paper published in the journal Current Biology . A team of researchers, led by Ransom Myers of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program at the Pew Charitable Trusts, compared the Nova Scotian and Maine lobster fisheries and found that Maine lobstermen could substantially reduce the number of traps, shorten the fishing season by as much as six months and still catch the same amount of lobsters at lower cost. Doing so would protect right whales by reducing the risk of entanglements in fishing gear, a key obstacle to recovery from the brink of extinction for this large, slow-moving mammal. &nbsp &nbsp more ... Of the 18.7% of tropical coral reefs that lie within "Marine Protected Areas", less than 2% have extended protection with regulations on extraction, poaching and other major threats, according to an analysis published in Science on June 23. The research represents the first global assessment of the extent, effectiveness and gaps in coverage of coral reefs by MPAs. The team built a database of MPAs for 102 countries, including satellite imagery of reefs worldwide, and surveyed more than 1,000 MPA managers and scientists to determine the conservation performance of MPAs. Declines in the number of species found on a standard longline in the 1960s and 1990s First global map reveals rapidly shrinking hotspots for tuna, marlin, swordfish; Diversity has declined by up to 50% over 50 years due to fishing A study released in Science reveals a striking downward trend in the diversity of fish in the open ocean -- the largest and least known part of our planet. Teasing apart the effects of climate change and fishing over the past 50 years, the authors show a clear link to overfishing and highlight a surprising global pattern of open ocean hotspots - areas with predictable congregations of tuna, marlin, swordfish, and other ocean predators. Fortune Magazine names Ransom Myers one of world's "Top Ten To Watch" Fortune, October 2005 In October 2005, Ransom Myers was chosen by Fortune magazine as one of the world's top ten movers and shakers: people who will change the way the world operates over the next 75 years. The prominent business magazine predicted that Myers' work on fish population dynamics and the depletion of sharks, tuna and other fish species will foster "new and better ways to husband the wealth beneath the sea." Direct and indirect fishery effects on small coastal elasmobranchs in the northern Gulf of Mexico Travis D. Shepherd and Ransom A. Myers Ecology Letters, October 2005 Sharks, rays and skates caught as bycatch by shrimp trawls and bottom longlines in the Gulf of Mexico have declined precipitously in the last 30 years (bonnethead 96%, Bancroft's numbfish 98%, smooth butterfly ray > 99%). In fact, some species, such as the dusky shark, scalloped hammerhead, and great hammerhead, have not appeared in shrimp trawl surveys for the past 23 years, and may have been completely eradicated from the region. Co-incident with these declines, abundances of deeper water species like the Atlantic angel shark and the smooth dogfish have increased 6 to 13 times since 1972. Since the diet of large coastal sharks consists of substantial amounts of smaller elasmobranchs, these prey populations are increasing, but only in deeper areas where they escape fisheries impacts. Such increases indicate the strong effect of predation by large coastal elasmobranchs, since their prey are increasing in spite of having low reproductive potential themselves (due to late age at maturity). This paper demonstrates that shark species play a critical role in structuring coastal food webs in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The loss of these populations may have far-reaching impacts on ecological communities in these areas, effects that may be seen globally in tropical / subtropical regions with intense shrimp trawling and bottom longlining. New Understanding of Leatherback Turtle Behaviour and Migration Time spent at surface by leatherback turtles Leatherback turtles undergo extensive migrations from tropical to temperate waters. By tracking diving behaviour and horizontal movement and through direct observation, Mike James, Ransom Myers, and Andrea Ottensmeyer were able to identify different uses of coastal and pelagic areas by leatherbacks during their migration. For 25 male and female animals tagged off Nova Scotia, Canada, diving patterns observed in temperate waters were consistent with foraging. Foraging in temperate waters off Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States may make animals vulnerable to incidental capture in these regions. Changing Open Ocean Communities in the Tropical Pacific Peter Ward and Ransom A. Myers Ecology, April 2005 In a paper published in the journal Ecology ( "Shifts in open-ocean fish communities coinciding with the commencement of commercial fishing" ), Ward and Myers compare open ocean fish abundances and biomass from recent years with those observed when industrial fishing began in the 1950s. The total biomass of pelagic fish caught on longlines was reduced by 90% between the 1950s and 1990s. This drastic reduction in the abundance of top predators by fishing could have dramatic consequences for the pelagic ecosystem, and Ward and Myers found preliminary evidence that such changes are occurring. They observed an increase in catches of small species such as the pelagic stingray and pomfrets which corresponded to declines in large predators. Ward and Myers suggest that this increase could be due to a reduction in predation pressure by large predatory fishes, resulting in increased abundance and/or geographical range for these smaller fish. Identification of high-use habitat and threats to leatherback sea turtles in northern waters: New directions for conservation Incidental capture in fisheries threatens many marine vertebrates, however, conservation cannot be effective without identifying major sources of mortality. For the critically endangered leatherback turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea ), a reliance on fisheries observer data and an absence of behavioural datasets corresponding to a large and diverse sample of animals have focused conservation efforts on a very limited part of the species? marine habitat. Using the largest satellite telemetry dataset for Atlantic leatherbacks, morphometrics from foraging animals, and entanglement records, we show annual return migrations to key feeding areas by males, females and juveniles, and demonstrate the importance of northern latitudes to leatherbacks. We show that leatherbacks are vulnerable to entanglement in northern coastal and shelf waters, where turtle-fishery interactions represent a greater threat to this species than previously recognized. Unless conservation efforts expand to coastal areas, present efforts alone will not be sufficient to save the species. Hatcheries and Endangered Salmon Many of the wild salmon populations currently protected under the Endangered Species Act in the Northwest are in immediate danger of being delisted--not because they are recovering--but because their presence and status may block development. Supplementary material Shifting baselines and the decline of pelagic sharks in the Gulf of Mexico Julia Baum and Ransom A. Myers Ecology Letters, February 2004 Less than 1% of oceanic whitetip sharks - thought to have been the most common warm-water oceanic shark just fifty years ago - remain in the Gulf of Mexico today. "This tragedy is caused by continued overfishing and the demand for a single luxury item - sharkfin soup," says Dr. Ransom Myers, a world-leading fisheries biologist based at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Predator diversity hotspots in the blue ocean Boris Worm, Heike Lotze, and Ransom A. Myers PNAS, August 2003 Large oceanic predators concentrate in unique "diversity hotspots" much like those that exist on land, according to new research published this week in the prestigious U.S. journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA." Many predators, such as tunas, sharks, billfishes, and sea turtles, are of immediate conservation concern due to their vulnerability to overfishing, or high mortality as by-catch in commercial fisheries. Although terrestrial conservation efforts have focused on identifying and preserving such concentrations of vulnerable species, little is known about similar hotspots in the ocean. The scientists found that species diversity peaks at distinct locations, always located at intermediate latitudes (20-30 degrees North and South) where tropical and temperate species overlap. Hotspots are located close to prominent marine geographic features, such as reefs or shelf breaks. They are found east of Florida, south of Hawaii, and off the east coast of Australia, and within national waters. Additional studies show that these hotspot areas seem to be important for many species at once, from plankton to sharks. Through modeling, the researchers predicted that protecting these hotspot areas from fishing would yield greater benefits for threatened species than closing any other area. The scientists suggest that the ocean has unique, and previously unrecognized concentrations of pelagic species, which should be used to focus future conservation measures. They also propose that marine protected areas in national waters, combined with reduced fishing effort, could be used to safeguard threatened marine predators from further declines and ecological extinction. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm Nature, May 15th, 2003 Changes in the catch per unit effort in the Japanese longline fishery from 1952 to 2000, catch of tuna and billfish per 100 hooks. Analysis of data from five ocean basins reveals a dramatic decline in numbers of large predatory fish (tuna, blue marlins, swordfish and others) since the advent of industrialized fishing. The world's oceans have lost over 90% of large predatory fish, with potentially severe consequences for the ecosystem. These findings provide indirect support for goals established at the UN's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last year. UN officials argued that three-quarters of the world's fisheries were fished to their sustainable limits or beyond, and made proposals for the restoration of depleted fisheries by 2015. Data on predatory fish are important as they are not dependent on datasets from commercial fisheries, which can be unreliable. Collapse and conservation of shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic Shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic have declined dramatically in the last two decades. Using an extensive dataset from the pelagic longline fishery, Baum and colleages have detected declines ranging from 40% for mako sharks to over 90% for hammerhead sharks. The magnitude of these changes suggests that several species are in danger of large-scale extirpation. The authors call for new marine reserves and a reduction in fishing effort to halt these trends. The Census of Marine Life is a growing global network of researchers in more than 45 nations engaged in a ten-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in oceans--past, present, and future.


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