Queen off to the races to mark Jubilee - CBC
London and the rest of Great Britain is abuzz this weekend with four days of festivities to mark the the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
In London, the Union Jack is everywhere, adorning everything from pubs to palaces, to celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne.
Racegoers watch the racing on Ladies Day during the Epsom Derby festival in Epsom, southern England on Friday. (Olivia Harris/Reuters)Officials kicked off celebrations Saturday with a 41-gun salute at Horse Guards Parade in central London.
The Queen and Prince Philip then arrived at Epsom Downs to attend the Epsom Derby, one of the year's biggest horse races.
"A Red Arrows parachute team will land (by the winning post) holding a huge flag, and then the Queen will be driven down the course, which is apparently unprecedented, in an open-top Range Rover," CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from London.
The Queen has a passion for horse racing and is a master breeder of horses. She has never won the Derby with one of her own horses and this year she does not have a horse in the race at all.
The Derby has been run for 233 years.
The Queen ascended to the throne in 1952, but wasn't officially coronated until 1953.
Three days after her coronation, she went to the Derby to watch her horse Aureole race. Aureole came close, but finished in second place.
1,000-boat river flotilla
For another big Jubilee event, boats are lining the Thames, the river that threads through the centre of the city. They'll take part in what's being sold as a spectacular pageant set for Sunday when a 1,000-strong flotilla will take over, with the Queen heading the floating parade in a specially built royal barge.
"This really is a once-in-a-lifetime event," pageant master Adrian Evans said. "It hasn't happened for 350 years. It probably won't happen for another 350 years."
Organizers may be wishing for a bit of magic to ward off the rains that are forecast for Sunday and into Monday.
Other celebrations include a concert Monday in front of Buckingham Palace featuring Elton John and Paul McCartney. Festitivies wrap on Tuesday with a with a religious service, a procession through the streets of London and the royal family's appearance on the palace balcony.
Taiwan opposition boycotts report by Premier Sean Chen - eTaiwan News
Chen was reappointed premier by President Ma Ying-jeou on May 20, the day of its inauguration, and was therefore due to read a government report and respond to questions from legislators within two weeks.
The opposition boycotted Friday morning’s session mainly to protest about the issues that have caused Ma and his government to plummet in the opinion polls of the past few months. The Ma’s administration wish to end the ban on beef from the United States treated with lean-meat drugs, the introduction of a capital gains tax and the hikes in the price of oil and electricity have all caused widespread public dissatisfaction.
The opposition demanded Chen apologize for the tax proposal and freeze the electricity rates, which are scheduled to rise on June 10 in the first phase of a planned three-stage increase.
Since Chen turned down the opposition demands, lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party prevented him from mounting the dais and presenting his report.
The DPP legislators held up banners reading ‘Ma Ying-jeou apologize, Sean Chen resign.’ The opposition lawmakers crowded around the dais while members of the ruling Kuomintang shouted at them not to put on a show.
After Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng failed to convince the opposition lawmakers to return to their place, he suspended the session and called for negotiations.
The current legislative session lasts until June 15, but opposition lawmakers are expected to try and put forward a motion of no confidence in the Chen Cabinet.
The three opposition parties control the necessary one third of legislators to file the motion, but not the majority needed to approve it and bring down the government. In the eventual vote, lawmakers will not be able to cast anonymous ballots, making it easy for the government to identify rebels.
The KMT holds 64 out of 113 seats, though on the issue of US beef imports, several votes in the recent past were close. If the motion of no confidence is approved, the premier will have to resign and request the president to disband the Legislative Yuan. If the attempt fails, the opposition will have to wait at least one year before it can file a new motion.
Dual-registered stars to lift Knights ranks (From York Press) - The Press in York
Dual-registered stars to lift Knights ranks
11:30am Saturday 2nd June 2012 in Sport 
YORK City Knights are optimistic they will be boosted by the return of two dual-registered pack stars in time for the visit of Swinton a week tomorrow – with long-term hopes of keeping the pair permanently.
As reported yesterday, the Championship strugglers are confident Hull prop Chris Green will be allowed by his parent club to return to Huntington Stadium.
And Castleford second-row John Davies is fit again ahead of schedule and is likely to take his place in the Knights’ pack against the Lions.
It all adds to a busy few days at Huntington Stadium which have seen half-back Danny Nicklas join on dual-reg from Hull, club captain Alex Benson leave, and hooker Brett Turner sign a new improved contract keeping him at York until the end of 2013.
Talks were also set to continue with Featherstone’s former Huddersfield playmaker, Tom Hemingway, over the weekend.
Player-boss Chris Thorman is delighted with the latest boosts regarding Green and Davies, and says the pair, both out of contract at their Super League clubs at the end of term, would be players he’d like to see at Huntington Stadium next year.
Davies, who was expected to be out for a month after damaging a shoulder in the loss at Featherstone a fortnight ago, is set to play in the Rugby League 9s competition for Cas on Tuesday and, if he comes through unscathed, with join up with the Knights on Thursday.
Green could likewise be back in the fold next week. He has not played for York since mid-March – he was actually voted The Press Player of the Month back then despite not playing in the last two games of that month – after being recalled by his parent club, but the Knights’ patience and the decision not to de-register him could now pay off.
Thorman said: “John’s done a fair bit of contact work over the last few days and it’s much-improved. All being well, he will be with us next week. It’s definitely a boost – he’s been one of our better players since coming to the club.
“We’ll know more about Chris coming back early next week but we’re pretty optimistic.”
As for keeping the pair in 2013, Thorman added: “We’re looking at that with John, but there will be a fair few clubs interested as he’s a good player.
“With Chris, Hull need to confirm what’s happening with him and it would not be right for me to speculate about his future until Hull have done that, but he’s the sort of player we would be interested in.”
One player who is definitely staying in 2013 is Turner whose new deal was announced yesterday morning.
There had been rumours that the Hull-based 24-year-old was struggling with work commitments but this improved contract cuts short any concerns he was set to leave the club.
Thorman added: “He’s earned his new deal.”
The Knights’ squad were given this weekend off after training four times this week but will be back together on Bank Holiday Tuesday morning for a special free-to-view session at York Acorn ARLC, starting at 9.30am, which will run alongside coaching sessions for Acorn youngters.
Santa Clara County supervisor hopeful Chang says he's still in it to win it - San Jose Mercury News
Despite rumors to the contrary, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors hopeful Barry Chang says his campaign is very much alive.
The Cupertino City Council member convened an unusual press conference Friday to reassure the media he is still running for the District 5 seat.
"If anyone says I'm not running, that's not the truth," he told a small group of reporters and supporters at Hong Fu Chinese restaurant in Cupertino.
The whispers were likely sparked in part by recent personal difficulties that have kept him out of the public eye, Chang said. He explained that his father-in-law was hospitalized in Taiwan after falling and hitting his head. Chang said he was also the victim of a cyber attack on May 20 that wiped out his business email account. A police report has been filed in the case.
The candidate shrugged when asked whether he thought he was targeted because of his outspoken views on the Lehigh Cement plant. Chang has carved out a political niche challenging the facility's environmental track record.
"I don't know. I cannot say that," he said. "But it happened so close to the election. You have to wonder."
Chang also suspects his campaign strategy may have fueled the rumors.
Citing a limited budget, he said he has avoided the traditional route of lawn signs and political ads.
Instead, he's poured $80,000 of his wife's money and $20,000 from his own retirement account into five mailers.
"I'm running
differently," said Chang, who joked that the sizeable loans will keep him from retiring anytime soon. "But I'm running hard."Chang, along with former Cupertino mayor Kris Wang and state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, is running to replace termed-out Supervisor Liz Kniss. The election will take place Tuesday.
Email Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com.
RSS hits out at BJP for growing infighting - zeenews.india.com
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Upset with the growing infighting in the BJP, RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya in its editorial on Saturday hit out at the saffron party.
“Several BJP leaders carry Prime Ministerial ambition. The Prime Ministerial candidate should be picked up only after the 2014 results”, the editorial said.
The sangh fountainhead is also unhappy with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for “ignoring senior BJP leaders”.
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani on Thursday made an indirect attack on party president Nitin Gadkari for taking faulty decisions.
Expressing concerns over his party’s declining credibility, the BJP stalwart wrote in his popular blog that the saffron leadership has failed to sense the pulse of the public on various occasions and several wrong decisions taken by the apex leadership has further worsened the situation.
“The mood within the party these days is not upbeat. The results in Uttar Pradesh, the manner in which the party welcomed BSP Ministers who were removed by Mayawati ji on charges of corruption, the party’s handling of Jharkhand and Karnataka – all these events have undermined the party’s campaign against corruption,” Advani wrote.
“The fact that we have a sizable contingent of MPs in Parliament today as against the niggardly two seats in 1984, that our performance in the two Houses under Sushmaji and Jaitleyji has been excellent, that the party is in power in as many as nine states today is no compensation for the lapses committed. I had said at the Core Group meeting that if people are today angry with the UPA Government, they are also disappointed with us. The situation, I said, calls for introspection,” he stated.
After Advani’s open criticism, BJP’s mouthpiece Kamal Sandesh has described Modi as a 'man in a hurry' and blamed him for damaging the party’s fabric.
"As one ascends the ladder, his understanding should also elevate. But the irony is that it is always seen that on reaching the top even after knowing that a day will come when he has to come down he tries to belittle the one's below him. When we applaud a person more than required then we in fact ourselves open the door of his possible distraction. Similarly if one is criticized in extremity, we open the door for his possible exit," the Kamal Sandesh editorial said.
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