News

As a student at Southern Arkansas University in 1959, I enrolled in a course in criminology—not because of any particular interest in the subject, but because it included field trips to prisons, which was more interesting than classroom work. We visited two state prisons and one federal penitentiary. At that time, “Death Row” was located at the Tucker unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Jefferson County. As we toured the facility, we came to the execution chamber—a stark, bare room with a rough-hewn, high backed, heavy oak chair known as “Old Sparky.”

Rivers in Britain are drying up and threatening trout and waterfowl populations, thanks to an unusually dry winter and spring (The Telegraph, May 8, 2017). On the other side of the pond in Montreal, rain and snowmelt are causing devastating floods. Thousands have been evacuated from over 100 towns and cities (BBC, May 8, 2017).

“Across Asia, more and more countries are being pulled into Beijing’s orbit, with the timid stance adopted by Southeast Asian nations on the South China Sea at a weekend summit a clear sign this fundamental geostrategic shift is gathering momentum...

Centrist Emmanuel Macron and his newly created political party just won the French presidential election, much to the relief of EU leaders! He is the youngest French president ever, and this will be the first elected position for the brilliant and ambitious Frenchman. Polls show Macron was elected primarily to prevent the advance of his opponent, Marie LePen, rather than because voters favored him or his policies.

This week, “A German newspaper reported that after a dinner on Wednesday evening Mr Juncker accused Mrs May of being ‘deluded’ and said it was ‘more likely than not’ that Brexit talks would fail. According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung... Mr Juncker told Mrs May ‘I’m leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before’” (The Telegraph, May 1, 2017).