Alok Sharma

Alok Sharma

Alok Sharma (born 7 September 1967)[1] is a British politician, serving as the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from February 2020. He was previously the Secretary of State for International Development from July 2019 to February 2020. He was elected in 2010 as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Reading West.

Sharma previously served as Housing Minister between 2017 and 2018, and as Employment Minister from 2018 to 2019.

Sharma was born in Agra, India, but moved to Reading with his parents when he was five years old. His father Prem was involved in Conservative politics in Reading and became chairman of the Berkshire area of Conservatives and helped establish the Conservative Parliamentary Friends of India. Sharma was raised in the Reading suburbs of Earley and Whitley Wood and attended Presentation College, Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning and the University of Salford, from where he graduated with a BSc in Applied Physics with Electronics in 1988.

Sharma subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant, training with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Manchester before moving into corporate finance advisory with Nikko Securities and then Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, where he held senior roles based in London, Stockholm and Frankfurt. Sharma was an adviser to clients in the corporate and private-equity sector on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, listings and restructurings.

Sharma is a governor of a local primary school in Reading. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Previously he served as a chairman of the political think-tank the Bow Group's economic affairs committee.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alok_Sharma

Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton by Chester, in Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 51 hectares (130 acres). The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres).

Chester Zoo is operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding. It is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 1.9 million visitors in 2018. In 2007 Forbes described it as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world. In 2017, it was named as the best zoo in the UK and third in the world by TripAdvisor

The Mottershead family's market garden business was based in Shavington near Crewe. George Mottershead collected animals such as lizards and insects that arrived with exotic plants imported by the business. A visit to Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester as a boy in 1903 fuelled his developing interest in creating a zoo of his own.

Mottershead was wounded in the First World War and spent several years in a wheelchair. Despite this, his collection of animals grew and he began to search for a suitable home for his zoo. He chose Oakfield Manor in Upton by Chester, which was a country village then but now is a suburb of Chester. He bought Oakfield Manor for £3,500 in 1930. The house had 9 acres (3.6 ha) of gardens and provided easy access to the railways and to Manchester and Liverpool. There were local objections, but Mottershead prevailed, and Chester Zoo opened to the public on 10 June 1931. The first animals were displayed in pens in the courtyard.

An Ordnance Survey inch-a-mile map published in 1936 shows the area around as farmland and villages and marks the present Zoo area north of Oakfield as "Butter Hill".

Rapid expansion followed after the Second World War, despite the difficulty of sourcing materials. Mottershead had to be resourceful; the polar bear exhibit (1950) was built from recycled wartime road blocks and pillboxes. "Always building" was the zoo's slogan at the time. Mottershead received the OBE, an honorary degree of MSc, and served as President of the International Union of Zoo Directors. He died in 1978 aged 84.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Zoo

Pomeranian

Pomeranian

The Pomeranian (often known as a Pom) is a breed of dog of the Spitz type that is named for the Pomerania region in north-west Poland and north-east Germany in Central Europe. Classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size, the Pomeranian is descended from larger Spitz-type dogs, specifically the German Spitz. It has been determined by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale to be part of the German Spitz breed; and in many countries, they are known as the Zwergspitz ("Dwarf-Spitz").

The breed has been made popular by a number of royal owners since the 18th century. Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian and consequently, the smaller variety became universally popular. During Queen Victoria's lifetime alone, the size of the breed decreased by half. Overall, the Pomeranian is a sturdy, healthy dog. The most common health issues are luxating patella and tracheal collapse. More rarely, the breed can have Alopecia X, a skin condition colloquially known as "black skin disease". This is a genetic disease which causes the dog's skin to turn black and lose all or most of its hair. As of 2013, in terms of registration figures, since at least 1998, the breed has ranked among the top fifty most popular breeds in the US, and the current fashion for small dogs has increased their popularity worldwide.

Pomeranians are small dogs weighing 1.36–3.17 kilograms (3.0–7.0 lb) and standing 8–14 inches (20–36 cm) high at the withers. They are compact but sturdy dogs with an abundant textured coat with a highly plumed tail set high and flat.  The top coat forms a ruff of fur on the neck, which Poms are well known for, and they also have a fringe of feathery hair on the hindquarters. 

The earliest examples of the breed were white or occasionally brown or black. Queen Victoria adopted a small red Pomeranian in 1888, which caused that color to become fashionable by the end of the 19th century.  In modern times, the Pomeranian comes in the widest variety of colors of any dog breed, including white, black, brown, red, orange, cream, blue, sable, black and tan, brown and tan, spotted, brindle, and parti, plus combinations of those colors.  The most common colors are orange, black, or cream/white. 

The merle Pomeranian is a recent colour developed by breeders. It is a combination of a solid base colour with a lighter blue/grey patch which gives a mottled effect. The most common base colours for the effect are red/brown or black, although it can also appear with other colours. Combinations such as brindle merle or liver merle are not accepted in the breed standard. In addition, the eye, nose and paw pad are marshmallow color, changing parts of the eye to blue and the color on the nose and paw pads to become mottled pink and black.

Pomeranians have a thick, double coat. While grooming is not difficult, breeders recommend that it be done daily to maintain the quality of the coat and because of its thickness and the constant shedding, with trimming every 1–2 months. The outer coat is long, straight, and harsh in texture while the undercoat is soft, thick and short. The coat knots and tangles easily, particularly when the undercoat is being shed, which happens twice a year

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomeranian_(dog)

Bradley Walsh

Bradley Walsh

Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter, singer,and former professional footballer. He is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street (2004–2006), as DS Ronnie Brooks in Law & Order: UK (2009–2014), and as Graham O'Brien in Doctor Who (2018–present). Walsh has presented various game shows for ITV, including Wheel of Fortune (1997), The Chase (2009–present), Keep It in the Family (2014–2015), and Cash Trapped (2016–present).

Walsh hosted the ITV variety show Tonight at the London Palladium (2016–2019) and was a team captain on the sports-themed panel show Play to the Whistle (2015–2017). Since 2019, Walsh has starred in Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad, alongside his son Barney Walsh.

In addition to his television career, Walsh often appears in theatre shows, particularly pantomimes. As a singer, he has released two albums, Chasing Dreams (2016) and When You're Smiling (2017), which both reached the top 15 in the UK Albums Chart.

Walsh was born in 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire, to a Scottish mother, Margaret, and her husband Daniel. He grew up near Watford, in Leavesden, with his parents and sister Kerri. Walsh attended what is now Francis Combe Academy, a comprehensive school in Garston, Hertfordshire, which was then known as simply Francis Combe School. Leaving school at 16, Walsh got a job as an apprentice at Rolls-Royce's aircraft engine factory in Watford

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Walsh

2nd degree murders

2nd degree murders

In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In most US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second degree murder, followed by voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter which are not as serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.

Sentencing also varies widely depending upon the specific murder charge. "Life imprisonment" is a common penalty for first degree murder, but its meaning varies widely.

Capital punishment is a legal sentence in 32 states, and in the federal civilian and military legal systems. The United States is unusual in actually performing executions, with 34 states having performed executions since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. The methods of execution have varied, but the most common method since 1976 has been lethal injection. In 2014 a total of 35 people were executed, and 3,002 were on death row.

The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, enacted in 2004 and codified at 18 U.S. Code § 1841, allows for a fetus to be treated as a victim in crimes. Subsection (c) of that statute specifically prohibits prosecutions related to consented abortions and medical treatments

If murder is committed within the borders of a state, that state has jurisdiction, and in a similar way, if the crime is committed in the District of Columbia, the D.C. Superior Court (the equivalent of a state court in the District) retains jurisdiction, though in some cases involving U.S. government property or personnel, the federal courts may have exclusive jurisdiction.

If, however, the victim is a federal official, an ambassador, consul or other foreign official under the protection of the United States, or if the crime took place on federal property or involved crossing state borders, or in a manner that substantially affects interstate commerce or national security, then the federal government also has jurisdiction. If a crime is not committed within any state, then federal jurisdiction is exclusive, for example vessels of the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Merchant Marine in international waters and U.S. military bases worldwide.

In addition, murder by a member of the United States Armed Forces of a prisoner while under custody of the United States Armed Forces is in violation of Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and can result in the perpetrator being tried by a general court-martial, subjecting to certain types of jurisdictions within its own borders or with foreign nations.

Jurisdiction over the crime of murder can be complex as a result of the principle of "dual sovereignty" that is part of federalism. In cases where a murder involves both state and federal jurisdiction, the offender can be tried and punished separately for each crime without raising issues of double jeopardy, unless the court believes that the new prosecution is merely a "sham" forwarded by the prior prosecutor. In the United States there is no statute of limitations on the crime of murder

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_(United_States_law)

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) disappeared on the evening of 3 May 2007 from her bed in a holiday apartment at a resort in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of Portugal. Her whereabouts remain unknown. The Daily Telegraph described the disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".

Madeleine was on holiday from the UK with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children. She and the twins had been left asleep at 20:30 in the ground-floor apartment, while the McCanns and friends dined in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away. The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Madeleine's mother discovered she was missing at 22:00. Over the following weeks, particularly after misinterpreting a British DNA analysis, the Portuguese police came to believe that Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and that her parents had covered it up. The McCanns were given arguido (suspect) status in September 2007, which was lifted when Portugal's attorney general archived the case in July 2008 for lack of evidence.

The parents continued the investigation using private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own inquiry, Operation Grange, in 2011. The senior investigating officer announced that he was treating the disappearance as "a criminal act by a stranger", most likely a planned abduction or burglary gone wrong. In 2013, Scotland Yard released e-fit images of men they wanted to trace, including one of a man seen carrying a child toward the beach that night. Shortly after this, the Portuguese police reopened their inquiry. Operation Grange was scaled back in 2015, but the remaining detectives continue to pursue a small number of inquiries described in April 2017 as significant

The disappearance attracted sustained international interest and saturation coverage in the UK reminiscent of the death of Diana in 1997. The McCanns were subjected to intense scrutiny and baseless allegations of involvement in their daughter's death, particularly in the tabloid press and on Twitter. In 2008 they and their travelling companions received damages and apologies from Express Newspapers, and in 2011 the McCanns testified before the Leveson Inquiry into British press misconduct, lending support to those arguing for tighter press regulation

Madeleine was born in Leicester and lived with her family in Rothley, also in Leicestershire. At her parents' request, she was made a ward of court in England shortly after the disappearance, which gave the court statutory powers to act on her behalf. Police described Madeleine as blonde-haired, with blue-green eyes, a small brown spot on her left calf, and a distinctive dark strip on the iris of her right eye.[b] In 2009 the McCanns released age-progressed images of how she may have looked at age six, and in 2012 Scotland Yard commissioned one of her at age nine

reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann

Barry Gardiner

Barry Gardiner

Barry Strachan Gardiner (born 10 March 1957) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent North since 1997.

Gardiner served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office, Department of Trade and Industry and finally Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Gardiner served in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade and Shadow Minister for International Climate Change from 2016 until 2020.

Barry Gardiner, the son of Olympic footballer John Gardiner, was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His mother trained as a surgeon and was the first woman to win the gold medal for surgery at Glasgow University. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow (an Independent School), Haileybury and Imperial Service College and the University of St Andrews where he received an MA. He then served for two years as full-time Scottish Regional Secretary of the Student Christian Movement. As a young man, he planned to become an Episcopal priest and began identifying politically with democratic and Christian socialism, identities he has maintained.

In 1983, Gardiner was awarded a Kennedy Memorial Trust scholarship to study Philosophy at Harvard University under John Rawls, returning to research at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge for three years from 1984. He worked as a senior partner in shipping insurance and arbitration before his election to parliament.

Gardiner was elected as a councillor to Cambridge City Council in 1988 becoming the mayor of the city in 1992, the youngest mayor in the city's 800-year history. He left the council in 1994

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Gardiner