Get The World At Your Fingertips

vendredi 5 juillet 2013

Ads by Google Routledge Area StudiesLatin American & Hispanic Writers & Poets! Register for free access now www.tandfonline.com/Writers-Poets Full Focus The Haig family stands for the United States pledge of allegiance before a public reading the United States Declaration of Independence, part of Fourth of July Independence Day celebrations, in Boston, Massachusetts July 4, 2013. People across the United States gathered on Thursday for parades, picnics and fireworks at Independence Day celebrations, held under unprecedented security following the Boston Marathon bombings. Spectators waving U.S. flags and wearing red, white and blue headed for public gatherings in Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta and other cities under the close watch of police armed with hand-held chemical detectors, radiation scanners and camera surveillance, precautions sparked by the deadly April 15 bombings. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Editor's choice Our top photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow Images of June Download our Wider Image iPad app Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Recommended Video Artist stirs privacy debate with portraits from DNA Play Video Artist stirs privacy debate with portraits from DNA Japan's consumers willing to pick up the tab for growth (1:56) Play Video Japan's consumers willing to pick up the tab for… Breakingviews: Kingmaker army dangerous for Egypt Play Video Breakingviews: Kingmaker army dangerous for Egypt iPhone 5S photos leaked, reveals rear housing iPhone 5S photos leaked, reveals rear housing (uSwitch) US spying raises co-operation fears US spying raises co-operation fears (Financial Times) Artist stirs privacy debate with portraits from DNA Play Video Japan's consumers willing to pick up the tab for growth (1:56) Play Video Breakingviews: Kingmaker army dangerous for Egypt Play Video iPhone 5S photos leaked, reveals rear housing US spying raises co-operation fears [?] Read Russia increasingly impatient over Snowden's airport stay 04 Jul 2013 Dollar gains, shares steady before U.S. jobs data | Video 8:16am EDT Steady U.S. job gains to keep Fed's focus on tapering 1:38am EDT U.S. airlines delay flights to Mexico City as volcano spews ash 04 Jul 2013 Mursi supporters take to streets on 'day of rejection' | Video 7:34am EDT Discussed 165 Egypt’s Mursi defies army as it plots future without him 158 Fugitive Snowden’s options narrow as asylum requests spurned 119 Zimmerman jury in Martin case hears about his criminal law studies Pictures Photo Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Photo Off-duty rebels Away from the front lines, Free Syrian Army fighters rest and play. Slideshow Photo Cambodia's garment industry The garment industry has become by far Cambodia’s biggest export earner but as investment in the country’s textile industry is surging so is labor unrest. Slideshow Sponsored Links South American leftist leaders rally for Bolivia in Snowden saga

By David Mercado

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia | Fri Jul 5, 2013 12:45am EDT

(Reuters) - South America's most outspoken leftist leaders demanded an explanation and public apology from four European countries on Thursday after Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane was diverted this week on suspicions that fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was aboard.
At a summit in Cochabamba, Bolivia - where Morales began his political career as a leader of coca leaf farmers - five regional leaders joined him in denouncing his "virtual kidnapping" and the U.S. pressure they believe spurred it behind the scenes.
At the end of the summit - which included the leaders of Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Surinam and Venezuela - a statement was issued demanding answers from France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. The United States was not mentioned in the statement.
"Europe broke all the rules of the game," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said shortly after arriving at the Cochabamba airport. "We're here to tell President Evo Morales that he can count on us. Whoever picks a fight with Bolivia, picks a fight with Venezuela."
Maduro said an unnamed European government minister had told Venezuela that the CIA, the U.S. spy agency, was behind the incident.
"We are not colonies any more," Uruguayan President Jose Mujica said. "We deserve respect, and when one of our governments is insulted we feel the insult throughout Latin America."
Morales welcomed the show of support. He said regional unity was needed "to defeat North American imperialism" and raised the possibility of closing the U.S. embassy in La Paz.
"My hand would not shake if it came to closing the embassy," he said. "Without the United States we are better off politically and democratically."
The U.S. embassy remains open in Bolivia although the two countries have not had full diplomatic relations in years.
Despite the rhetoric, no Latin American country has offered asylum yet to Snowden, who is wanted by Washington for disclosure of intelligence secrets.
Russia is growing impatient over Snowden's stay in a Moscow airport and officials have urged him to leave.
Bolivia said Morales was returning from Moscow on Tuesday when France and Portugal - later joined by Italy and Spain - banned his plane from entering their airspace, forcing it to land in Vienna. Austrian officials said they inspected the aircraft there, but Bolivia's defense minister denied this.
REGIONAL SPLIT
Noticeably absent from the Cochabamba gathering was the president of regional heavyweight Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, who sent her international affairs adviser and a deputy foreign minister to the meeting.
The presidents and foreign ministers of Chile, Peru and Colombia, which have good relations with the United States, also stayed away. In a written statement, Colombia's foreign ministry called on Bolivia and the European governments involved to find a diplomatic solution.
Bolivia and Venezuela were also irked at receiving provisional arrest requests for Snowden from Washington, a move Bolivia called "illegal and unfounded".
U.S. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki, said: "We've broadly asked for Mr. Snowden to be returned from any country where he may be, where he may land, where he may transit."
To allay the anger of allies over reported U.S. spying in Europe that came to light in the Snowden scandal, U.S. President Barack Obama has agreed to talks with the European Union, and to bilateral talks with Germany after speaking on Wednesday night with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I made clear spying on institutions within the European Union is not how we would expect those we consider friends to treat us," Merkel said.
HERO'S WELCOME
Morales arrived home to a hero's welcome late on Wednesday with cheering, fist-pumping crowds greeting him at the airport.
Bolivia is among more than a dozen countries where Snowden has sought asylum, and Morales has said he would consider granting the American refuge. But he said earlier this week no request had been made.
The 30-year-old Snowden, who worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency in Hawaii, has been trying since June 23 to find a country that will offer him refuge from prosecution in the United States on espionage charges.
But his options have narrowed since he arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong with no valid travel documents after the United States revoked his passport.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Ramos in La Paz, Eyanir Chinea and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas, Anthony Boadle in Brasilia, Alexandra Ulmer in Santiago, Helen Murphy in Bogota, Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Alexandra Valencia in Quito, Marco Aquino in Peru, Louise Egan and Guido Nejamkis in Buenos Aires; Writing by Hilary Burke and Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Terry Wade, Louise Egan and Philip Barbara)

Egypt army arrests key Muslim Brotherhood figures

Egypt's military has moved against the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, a day after deposing President Mohammed Morsi.

Mr Morsi is in detention, as well as senior figures in the Islamist group of which he is a member. Hundreds more are being sought.
The top judge of Egypt's constitutional court, Adly Mahmud Mansour, has been sworn in as interim leader.
He has pledged to hold elections based on "the genuine people's will".
At a news conference, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad declared "our full refusal and revoking of the military coup" and demanded Mr Morsi's immediate release, along with the other detainees.
He declared the Brotherhood's "full denial of co-operation" with the new regime and said it would take part in all "peaceful, people-led protest".

“Start Quote

A couple of months ago, people were sceptical of the army. However, we have now seen our faith restored ”

Reem Shalan Cairo

Voices from the streets

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamel Amr - who resigned from Mr Morsi's government on Monday - said he had assured US Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone call on Thursday that the overthrow of President Morsi had not been a military coup, but the "overwhelming will of the people".

The upheaval in Egypt comes after days of mass rallies against Mr Morsi and the Brotherhood, who are accused of pursuing an Islamist agenda and failing to tackle Egypt's economic problems.
Some 50 people have died since the latest unrest began on Sunday, with correspondents saying that there are continuing fears of confrontation between the pro- and anti-Morsi blocs.
A coalition of Islamist parties - the National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy - has called for mass demonstrations to denounce the army's actions following Friday prayers.
'Police state'

Mr Mansour praised the armed forces and the Egyptian people

The Egyptian army has gambled that it can contain the situation, but that's by no means certain, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Cairo.
There have been reports that Morsi supporters in a town north of Cairo have been set upon and badly beaten - an illustration of the potential for danger.
Mr Haddad earlier told the BBC that Mr Morsi had been put under house arrest and the "entire presidential team" was in detention.
The army said that Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, had "failed to meet the demands of the people".
But in the news conference, Mr Haddad said the arrests had no legal basis and decried "the prospect of a police state in action now", citing as a particular example the arrest of the former Muslim Brotherhood chief Dr Mahdi Akef - "a non-political, non-office figure, 85 years old and yet arrested".

Egypt's revolution - key events

11 February 2011 - Hosni Mubarak resigns as president after two weeks of massive street protests and violent clashes
January 2012 - Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party wins parliamentary elections with almost half of the vote
June 2012 - Mohammed Morsi becomes Egypt's first freely elected president
22 November 2012 - Mr Morsi issues a controversial decree granting himself extensive powers - after angry protests, he eventually rescinds most of it
3 July 2013 - The army suspends the constitution and removes Mr Morsi from power

Mr Haddad's father, senior Morsi aide Essam el-Haddad, and Saad al-Katatni, head of the FJP, are among those being held.

On Thursday afternoon unnamed officials said Mohammed Badie, supreme leader of the Brotherhood, had been arrested in Mersa Matruh, a Mediterranean coastal city to the west of Cairo.
Arrest warrants have reportedly been issued for some 300 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including Mr Badie's deputy, Khairat al-Shater.
Some of those held, including Mr Morsi, are being charged with "insulting the judiciary", and the public prosecutor's office told AFP news agency travel bans had been placed on 35 senior leaders.
Several TV stations sympathetic to the Brotherhood have been taken off the air, and a state-owned printing press is said to be refusing to print a newspaper run by the FJP.
Security forces raided al-Jazeera's Egypt channel and detained members of its crew - a move denounced by the Arabic broadcaster.
Rights group Amnesty International said the shutdowns were a "blow to freedom of expression".

Army's post-Morsi roadmap

Constitution to be suspended temporarily and interim president sworn in
"Strong and competent" civilian technocratic government to be installed
Supreme Court to pass a draft law on parliamentary election and prepare for parliamentary and presidential polls
"Charter of honour" to be drawn up and followed by the media
Measures taken to empower young people and a national reconciliation committee to be formed

Fighter jets trailing smoke drew love hearts in Cairo's smoggy skies on Thursday in apparent celebration of the military's role in ousting Mr Morsi's government.

But across the city, his despondent supporters staged sit-ins in protest at what many are calling a betrayal of the democratic process.
'Spirit of revolution' Mr Mansour took an oath to become interim head of state, vowing to safeguard "the spirit of the revolution" which had removed Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.
Fresh elections were "the only way" forward, he said, without indicating when they would be held.
He held out an apparent olive branch to the Muslim Brotherhood, saying they were "part of this people" and were "invited to participate in building the nation".

“Start Quote

This will be interpreted by many political Islamists as sending a blunt message: it doesn't necessarily pay to choose the ballot over the bullet”

Frank Gardner BBC security correspondent

The army's roadmap for the post-Morsi era includes:

Suspension of the constitution
A civilian, transitional technocratic government
Supreme constitutional court to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections
A "charter of honour" to be drawn up and followed by national media

Events in Egypt have divided international opinion, with the US, UK and UN among those expressing concern and calling for a swift return to civilian rule.
Others, such as Turkey and Tunisia, have been more forthright in their condemnation of the way Mr Morsi has been ousted.
Yet others, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - as well as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - have welcomed the turn of events.
Mr Morsi became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair following the 2011 revolution that toppled Mubarak.

Hospital bosses face prosecution over care failings

Hospital and care home managers who allow neglect and abuse to take place on their watch could face criminal prosecution and unlimited fines under new Government plans designed to restore trust in the health service after a series of high profile NHS scandals.

Directors of all healthcare organisations will be subject to compulsory “fit and proper” tests to prove they are up to the job, while the powers of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to prosecute health bosses will be increased, under proposals to be outlined by the care minister Norman Lamb today.
The new powers will abolish a loophole that has allowed directors to escape prosecution by the CQC. Currently the regulator can only prosecute in cases where it has previously issued a warning notice with which the provider has failed to comply.
There have been no prosecutions for care failures since the CQC was set up in 2009 and fines of just £4,000 have been levied against organisations that failed to meet national care standards.
“Scandals like Winterbourne View and Mid-Staffs have damaged confidence in our health and care system,” said Mr Lamb. “Part of our commitment to rebuilding that trust comes from making sure that people at all levels are held to account for failings when they occur.
“Whilst there must be a sharper focus on corporate accountability, more needs to be done to ensure those responsible for leading a care organisation are up to the job. I hope that providers and people who use services and their families will respond to this consultation as we look to take these proposals forward.”
The Department of Health said that it was still considering what charges could be brought against individual hospital and care home bosses, but said that maximum fines of £50,000 could be ordered. The Ministry of Justice is investigating whether the caps on such fines can be lifted altogether.
Peter Walsh, the chief executive of the medical negligence charity Action against Medical Accidents, welcomed the proposals but said that they must go hand-in-hand with a duty of candour – a key aspect of the Government’s response to the Francis Inquiry into catastrophic failures at the Stafford Hospital.
“It is very good news that the CQC’s powers to prosecute breaches in fundamental standards are to be strengthened in line with the recommendations from the Mid Staffs inquiry,” he said. “This must include the new ‘Duty of Candour’. It could help make CQC fully fit for purpose at last.”
The CQC has previously issued “fixed penalty notices” – action short of prosecution – four times, twice against nursing home operator Rosewood Care LLP, totalling a £8,000 fine, as well as £4,000 fines each for Dav Homes Limited which also failed to meet national care standards, and St Martins Care Ltd, a residential home operator, which failed to meet medicines regulations.
CQC chief executive David Behan said: “Those who run health and care service are accountable for the quality and safety of the care they provide. People have a right to expect that care homes and hospitals meet basic standards of care.
“The power to prosecute, along with a ‘fit and proper’ person test for directors, gives people who use services greater assurance that poor care will be challenged and that they will receive safe and effective care.”
CQC chief admits to ‘culture of suppression’
CQC chairman David Prior told MPs yesterday that a report into an alleged cover-up at the organisation had revealed “incompetence, complacency, dysfunction” and a “culture of suppression and oppression”.
Mr Prior, who assumed his post in January, was appearing before the Health Select Committee with CQC chief executive David Behan to answer questions about its handling of the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust scandal. Conservative Charlotte Leslie asked if it was proper the CQC was still advertising for a marketing manager whose job would be to “expertly manage our reputation and proactively build our profile”.
Charlie Cooper

How safe is your kitchen? Our system for recalling faulty gas cookers isn't good enough

Recall UK estimate that between 1.5 and two million dangerous household appliances have been recalled by major manufacturers since 2011. They estimate that more than one million of those products have never been found. Dishwashers, fridge freezers and tumble dryers have been causing hundreds of fires up and down the country.
For me, the battle to highlight the failings in the system is personal. The 13th November will be a day I dread for the rest my life. This was the date in 2010 that I discovered my son Richard and his friend Kevin dead from the effects of Carbon Monoxide poisoning, at a home they shared in Saltash, Cornwall. Those mental images will haunt me for the rest of my life.
The effect on me and my wife was so traumatic, it resulted in both of us taking early retirement. At the time nothing in life seemed important anymore, we had just lost our youngest son in the prime of his life and everything else was of little consequence. Richard was a very laid back person, very gentle, very friendly and a person who loved his music and playing the guitar. Both he and Kevin had a huge circle of friends. This was evident at their funeral when the church was overflowing.
When the police informed us that their deaths might be linked to their cooker it was unbelievable, we were devastated. It had never entered our thoughts that the cooker could in some way be responsible, because we had bought it for Richard in November 2008. We were later informed the grill door of the cooker had been shut while the grill was on. This caused huge emissions of carbon monoxide which resulted in the death of Richard and Kevin. Who would have thought shutting something as simple as a grill door could cause the death of two healthy lads? The cooker was a Flavel Milano 50 ML5NDS, manufactured by Beko, the UK's most popular producer of household appliances.
Shortly afterwards it was discovered that this particular gas cooker had been the subject of recall notices due to their faulty design and needed an urgent modification. Unfortunately we never saw these recall notices. At the same time we learnt that this particular type of cooker was still being sold by retailers, even after the recall notices had been issued by Beko.
It is my firm belief that had we seen Beko's recall notices Richard and Kevin would still be alive today.
Since the deaths of our sons, my wife and I have become firm friends with Kevin’s mum, Denise. Together it has been our goal to raise the awareness of the devastating effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. We are also trying to get present laws amended and new legislation introduced so no other families experience what we have gone through.
Beko complied with all the current requirements in terms of recalling the faulty cookers. We therefore want to ensure that the recall system is not left in the hands of the manufacturers, but to appoint an independent advisor to oversee the process. RecallUK have developed a four step product recall improvement plan which would the be the logical way ahead and I fully support it.
While the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the government department with ultimate responsibility for recalls, say they are satisfied with the current system, I refuse to stand by and watch one more family endure the heartbreak of losing a family member to one of these silent killing machines.
Beko have not admitted liability for any of the deaths. Coroners have ruled that the deaths were accidents. A spokesperson for Beko said: "We deeply regret the incidents involving a limited number of our models and unreservedly and sincerely apologise to everyone who has been affected. Beko's highest priority is the safety of our customers. Beko is just one of many manufacturers to have launched product recalls in recent years. In addition, Beko's success rate in finding affected models is 3-4 times greater than the industry average of 10-20%, as reported by the Electrical Safety Council. We continue to work hard to identify the outstanding affected appliances. It is important to avoid confusing and panicking the public and to reassure them that all the Beko affected products referred to are no longer in production."

Latest Vision for Las Vegas: A Downtown Vibe

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN

Published: July 4, 2013

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LAS VEGAS — Tony Hsieh didn’t look much like a modern-day Bugsy Siegel. Wearing backpack, T-shirt and jeans, standing outside a downtown bar, he patrolled his future empire along East Fremont Street here one sweltering morning.

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But the flamboyant Siegel changed this city for good when he built the Flamingo Hotel, the first luxury casino on the Strip. Now Mr. Hsieh, a soft-spoken 39-year-old Internet billionaire who runs Zappos, the online clothing store, plans to do something as transformative. It’s a classic American dream: a Western-scale roll of the dice in a city that suddenly conjured up Belle Époque Paris and ancient Rome out of the desert. The idea this time is to build a version of the Mission district in San Francisco or the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in downtown Vegas.

Mr. Hsieh (pronounced shay) is relocating Zappos headquarters from Henderson, Nev., about 16 miles away, and investing hundreds of millions of his own dollars to retrofit downtown with, well, a downtown, in line with the latest trends.

I came to check out the progress. There’s not much to see yet, but his $350 million Downtown Project — a mix of investments, acquisitions and loans — envisions blocks and blocks of community-based, pedestrian-friendly, small-business-oriented, high-density, high-tech urbanism in long-depressed and troubled neighborhoods. Zappos will take over the decrepit old City Hall. That gesture alone, salvaging a local landmark, has endeared Mr. Hsieh to many in Las Vegas.

We spoke briefly the other night in the Gold Spike, a former casino near City Hall whose gambling room he stripped and converted into a chic slots-free bar and chill space. He took me to the empty motel he bought next-door, where, he speculated, a modeling agency and photography studio could take over what used to be a few of the poolside guest rooms.

On nearby blocks, which he has also gobbled up, the Downtown Project would seed tech start-ups, boutiques, mom-and-pop restaurants and bars; the world’s largest Airstream trailer park; a playground and geodesic dome; a complex of recording studios; a charter school; a doggy day care; a bike share program, even a Tesla electric car share, along with theaters for TED Talk-like lecturers and music festivals.

There’s no designer-led master plan, no single billion-dollar construction project, no star architect. The concept is top-down but preaches piecemeal, bottom-up development and reuse. It exploits a picturesque supply of abandoned flop houses, vacant offices and collapsing warehouses, capitalizing on a growing desire among young Americans for urban life: an anti-Strip vision of America.

Out on the Strip, MGM opened CityCenter in 2009, a $7.8 billion luxury development and celebrity-architect petting zoo, which in a sense is the same concept, but pegged as a theme park for tourists. I got a peek the other day. It’s a smart and sleek attraction; business has been improving. CityCenter and the Downtown Project are both visions for evolving the same city.

But unlike MGM’s development, which opened in the midst of the housing collapse, Mr. Hsieh’s timing could hardly have been better. The local economy, devastated when the bubble burst, is limping back. The population (increasingly young Asians and Hispanics) keeps rising, and wealthy out-of-towners prop up the high end of the housing market. Most properties are still under water, and the city is down 100,000 construction jobs from pre-recession highs, but the picture isn’t as bleak, or straightforward, as four years ago.

At the same time, Las Vegas suffers the pitfalls of being a one-industry town. Baked into its economy are minimal taxes and a state government inclined to ship much of what Las Vegas contributes to the rest of Nevada, which, among other consequences, insures the school system is perennially poor. Casino moguls, needing a steady supply of parking attendants, hotel maids and blackjack dealers, not college-educated workers, were once fine with that. But times are changing. Now the lack of good public schools and downtown amenities — demanded by those mobile and educated young Americans other cities are competing to attract — has become a liability.

On top of which, Las Vegans I spoke with, young and old, complained about not having “enough authentic places,” which are “locally owned, one of a kind, less corporate,” as Tyler Jones, a 35-year-old architect-developer of luxury homes and third-generation Las Vegan, put it to me. They wanted a Las Vegas for Las Vegans.

Which is where Tony Hsieh comes in.

Downtown began to decline by the 1960s. The casinos, department stores and middle-class homeowners fled south to the Strip, seizing upon cheap and plentiful land. During the 1990s, the Fremont Experience turned five desperate blocks of what used to be the heart of the downtown gambling scene into a pedestrian concourse beneath a lighted canopy that pulled in low-end tourists but few jobs or residents. It’s now a blighted attraction. Neonopolis arrived in 2002, a retail and entertainment mall, which soon went belly up, leaving a fortress-size hole amid the pawn shops and homeless shelters.

Since then, there has been progress. The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, designed by Frank Gehry, opened downtown in 2010; the popular Smith Center for the Performing Arts, a $485 million project, last year; along with a new City Hall. And back in 2007, a small bohemian speakeasy called the Downtown Cocktail Room opened on the corner of Fremont and Las Vegas Boulevard, once the main intersection. Hanging out in the Cocktail Room a few years ago, Mr. Hsieh began to picture a different vision for the neighborhood: as an affordable locus for upscale young adults, having little or nothing to do with gambling.

In some ways, the most fascinating aspect of this vision is the relocation of Zappos. Moving its headquarters downtown represents a pointed alternative to the multibillion-dollar suburban office parks that Google and Apple are building in Silicon Valley, notwithstanding that so many of their own employees want to live in, and commute from, San Francisco. Mr. Hsieh has bought into the solid notion that chance encounters on the street or at a club — urban collisions — spark innovation: cities, inherently, nurture the economy and culture.

It’s a gentrifying idea that comes at the cost of displacing some existing businesses whose owners say downtown Las Vegas wasn’t a blank slate. Critics like Joel Kotkin, a fellow of Urban Futures at Chapman University, have told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that Mr. Hsieh’s project commits tax dollars (by, for instance, helping finance Zappos’s purchase of the old City Hall) that might otherwise be spent on training programs or buses.

But then there’s Eat. I stopped by at lunchtime. It’s the antithesis of the celebrity chef chains on the Strip — more like some neighborhood hot spot you’d stumble across in Austin, Tex. Natalie Young, the chef and owner, having grown tired of her job on the Strip, opened the place with a no-interest $225,000 loan from the Downtown Project. When she fell behind on her apartment rent, according to The Review-Journal, she called Michael Cornthwaite, a friend, who owns the Cocktail Room. His wife showed up at Ms. Young’s door with a check. Eat has since been hopping. That story encapsulates the sort of communal entrepreneurship that Mr. Hsieh hopes to inspire.

I toured the East Fremont district with Don Welch, one of Mr. Hsieh’s partners, who talked in the dreamy, assured way developers do about filling blocks and blocks of vacant land in the next few years with a bustle of businesses and people.

We’ll see. Short term, success depends on Mr. Hsieh’s running the table, investment-wise. A range of business leaders, local converts to civic diversification, not just from the gambling industry, hopes he does. Long term, success will depend on a broader vision, which incorporates downtown casinos that have reinvested in themselves like the El Cortez, along with establishments that haven’t. And new development will need to be integrated with existing schools, homeless shelters and convenience stores, so the city doesn’t simply end up with an isolated hipster office park.

That Caesars Entertainment on the Strip is also retrofitting urban-style streetscapes for tourists suggests Mr. Hsieh’s project is making some waves. It’s in contrast to the marooned, star-architect-driven mega-developments like the Smith Center, which are, so far, poorly knitted into the fabric of downtown streets. Mr. Hsieh isn’t himself thinking in terms of new architecture yet; he’s repurposing vernacular buildings, though the project, in its open-endedness, would seem to present an opportunity for resourceful architects to pitch the virtues of inventive new design.

Hard as it may be not to feel skeptical, the small-scale civic principles are solid. And sometimes a single determined mogul is just what a struggling city needs.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Las Vegas was remade by one.

Singer Bernie Nolan dies aged 52

Actress and singer Bernie Nolan has died at the age of 52, following a long battle with breast cancer.

The former lead singer of The Nolans was first diagnosed in 2010, and had chemotherapy and a mastectomy, receiving an all-clear in 2012.
However, months later the disease returned and spread to her brain, bones, lungs and liver.
In recent years she was best known for her acting roles in The Bill and Channel 4 soap Brookside.
"Bernie passed away peacefully this morning with all of her family around her," said a spokesperson for the family.
"The entire family are devastated to have lost beloved Bernie, a wonderful wife, adoring mother and loving sister, she is irreplaceable."
Born on 17 October 1960, she grew up in Ireland, performing as a family troupe with her five sisters and two brothers. Her father Tommy would go on to be the Nolans' manager - but after his death, eldest sister Anne revealed he had sexually abused her from the age of 11.

Archive: The Nolan sisters 1979 appearance on Top of the Pops

Nolan turned to acting following 20 years fronting the Irish all-girl group and a string of hits including 1979's I'm in the Mood for Dancing and Don't Make Waves.
She left the group in 1994, and took to the stage, performing in productions including Blood Brothers in London's West End, Flashdance and a UK tour of Chicago the Musical.
She moved into television playing hairdresser Diane Murray in Brookside from 2000-02 and joining ITV's police drama The Bill in 2003, as Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy.
"So sad to hear Bernie Nolan has passed away," tweeted Nolan's Brookside co-star Jennifer Ellison, after hearing the news of her death. "Such an amazing lady, had the honour of working with her twice will cherish the memories."
Bill co-star Gary Lucy tweeted: "RIP Bernie Nolan - our thoughts are with her family."

Nolan wrote about her battle with cancer in her autobiography, released in May

Nolan also took part in ITV's talent show Popstar to Operastar in 2010, reaching the final but losing to Pop Idol's Darius.
In 2008, Bernie, Maureen, Linda and Coleen agreed to a multi-million pound reunion tour of The Nolans with Universal Records, prompting a feud between the two remaining sisters, Denise and Anne.
Anne, who was in the original line-up but left the group for two years at the height of their mainstream success, was not included by the tour's producers and it caused a bitter rift. Denise had left the group before any of the group's chart hits.
"Despite all the drama around it, doing the show was one of the best things I've ever done. It gave us all something to remember for ever," Bernie said in her autobiography Now & Forever, which was published in May this year.
In the book, she claimed she had made her peace with all five of her sisters over the last few years - and urged her sisters to do the same. Two of her five sisters, Anne and Linda, were previously diagnosed with breast cancer but overcame the disease.
Presenter Lorraine Kelly paid tribute on Thursday, tweeting: "Bernie Nolan was a very special woman. Brave, funny and hugely talented. She will be sorely missed. Thoughts with her family and friends."

The Nolan sisters performing in the 1980s

Some of the sisters fell out amid plans for a reunion tour in 2008

Sherrie Hewson, who works with Bernie's sister Coleen on Loose Women, tweeted: "RIP the wonderfully talented Bernie Nolan. A beautiful person that brightened up this sometimes dark world of ours! Sing forever Bernie."
"Very sad to hear of the passing of Bernie Nolan," added commentator Gary Lineker on Twitter. "A fabulous and fabulously talented lady. Thoughts are with the family."
Bernie married Steve Doneathy in 1996 and leaves one daughter, Erin.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast in May this year, Mr Doneathy said she had stopped chemotherapy and entered palliative care.
"But she's still being as positive as you can be under those circumstances. You get up every day, face the day, and make that day the best it can be."

Arrested Vatican prelate lived lush life in hometown

By Philip Pullella

SALERNO, Italy | Thu Jul 4, 2013 6:36am EDT

(Reuters) - Even though he was known to like to live well, police said they were startled when they entered Monsignor Nunzio Scarano's apartment after he called them one night in January to report a burglary.
The apartment, in one of Salerno's most up-market neighborhoods in the city center, was huge, with art lining the walls and hallways divided by Roman-style columns.
Scarano, a Vatican official with close ties to the Vatican bank and who is now in Rome's Queen of Heaven jail, had called police to report that thieves had stolen part of his art collection.
Interviews with two key chief investigators in different judicial and police departments in Salerno, in southern Italy, and police pictures of the apartment viewed by Reuters give the most detailed picture to date of Scarano's wealth.
The investigators disclosed that the trove of stolen goods estimated to be worth up to 6 million euro ($7.82 million) included six works by Giorgio de Chirico, one by Renato Guttuso, one attributed to Marc Chagall and pieces of religious art.
"We asked ourselves how did this monsignor come to own this place and possess these expensive works of art," said a senior investigator in the southern Italian city who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"He said they were all donations. It is a luxury apartment and we asked ourselves how he could have bought it and where the money came from," he said. Magistrates suspect at least some of it may have come from illegal activity in the Salerno area.
Through his lawyer, Silverio Sica, Scarano said that the art work, the apartment and money in his bank accounts, including two at the Vatican bank, all came from donations and that he had done nothing wrong.
There was no sign of breaking and entering apart from a broken window which police believed irrelevant and the thieves were thought to have entered with a key.
The investigators asked tax police to dig into what Italian investigators call someone's "financial patrimony" - bank accounts, real estate, and stocks. The trail led to the Vatican bank.
The 700 square-meter (7,500 square feet) luxury apartment on Via Romualdo Guarna was not the only piece of property that Scarano owned, either alone or jointly. Investigators discovered that he was part owner of three Salerno real estate companies.
But, most significantly, the investigators discovered that Scarano had withdrawn 560,000 euros in cash last year in one transaction from the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).
"DON 500 EUROS"
Scarano, well-connected in local high society circles, then divided the cash, most of it in 500 euro notes, among nearly 56 friends. The Italian media has dubbed Scarano "Don 500 euros" because it was apparently his preferred denomination.
Each friend gave him a cashier's check drawn on Italian banks. He then took all the checks to a bank in Salerno and paid off a mortgage on his apartment, which investigators said he had purchased for about 1.7 million euros.
Scarano told investigators that he took the money out of his Vatican bank account because he wanted to pay off his mortgage in order to sell his apartment at a profit and use the proceeds to build a home for the terminally ill. Lawyer Sica also said this was his client's intention.
Investigators said they were now looking into a home for the elderly that Scarano did help build in Salerno. They said they want to determine how the home was built, where the money came from and how it was financed.
An investigator in a police department in Salerno said each of the checks were justified as "a donation" in local bank records.
"But that was a very silly trick. We saw through that so fast. They were false donations," he said. Scarano's lawyer says all donations were genuine.
Referring to Scarano's luxury apartment, which the prelate told investigators was furnished through donations, an investigator said:
"If they were donations, you don't furnish a house like that if you are a priest who has taken vows."
A KNACK FOR NUMBERS
By all accounts, Scarano was a man of the cloth with a knack for numbers.
He worked at banks in Salerno and nearby Battipaglia before he became a priest at the relatively late age of 35.
After serving in a parish in his native Salerno, he entered the Vatican bureaucracy and eventually wound up in its central financial administration office, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, or APSA.
Scarano was arrested in Rome on June 28 and formally accused of taking part in a plot to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy from Switzerland for his rich friends. [ID:nL5N0F70ZN]. Sica, his lawyer, said Scarano was "just trying to help friends" get their money back into Italy.
An Italian secret services agent and a financial broker were also arrested in the money smuggling case, which is being investigated by Rome magistrates and is separate from the Salerno case. Both investigations are continuing.
The Salerno investigators have formally asked the Vatican bank - via Italy's justice and foreign ministries - for information on a number of accounts there and more information about Scarano's financial activities. When Scarano was arrested, the Vatican said it would cooperate with investigators.
Salerno investigators said they had not yet received any information from the Vatican.
Since his election in March, Pope Francis has made it clear he wants to clean up the Vatican bank. On June 26, he set up a special commission of inquiry, in a bold move to come to grips with an institution that has embarrassed the Catholic Church for decades. ($1 = 0.7672 euros)
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Peter Millership and Janet McBride)

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