what? Donald Trump is in the news?

[9/30/15] Property magnate Donald Trump broke his Fox News boycott Tuesday night.

The Republican presidential front-runner appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor" just one week after he said he would not be appearing on Fox shows "for the foreseeable future."

Though host Bill O'Reilly did not mention Trump's feud with the network, the host did confront Trump more generally about whether he was being "mature" on the campaign trail.

"Am I fair to say that in order for you to win the Republican nomination, that you're going to have to change your style and be a bit kinder and more mature?" O'Reilly asked. "Is that a fair question?"

Trump said he found the question fair but thought the word "mature" was inappropriate. He went on to tout his own poll numbers and argue that the 2016 contest would be about competence, not kindness.

[9/23/15] NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says he's done appearing on Fox News shows for the "foreseeable future" because he doesn't like the network's coverage of his presidential campaign.

The billionaire businessman and leading Republican candidate tweets that Fox News has been treating him "very unfairly" and that he's stop appearing on its shows.

Trump has been feuding with the network since first GOP primary debate, when he objected to the moderators' questions.

There was a brief detente. But the feud escalated this week, with Trump tweeting and retweeting complaints about the network and hosts, including Megyn Kelly.

[8/30/15] Trump leads Hispanic poll in familiarity

[8/25/15] The head of Fox News on Tuesday called on Donald Trump to apologize after a string of posts on Twitter lambasting Fox anchor Megyn Kelly, the latest in an ongoing flap between the network and the leading Republican presidential candidate.

Kelly was one of the moderators at the network's recent Republican presidential debate, where Trump claimed she asked him unfair questions.

On Monday night, Trump took to Twitter to say Kelly, who had just returned from vacation, was "off her game" and Fox's nightly news program was better without her. He also re-tweeted posts from other Twitter users referring to Kelly as a "bimbo."

"Donald Trump's surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing," Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Donald Trump rarely apologizes, although in this case, he should. We have never been deterred by politicians or anyone else attacking us for doing our job, much less allowed ourselves to be bullied by anyone, and we're certainly not going to start now," he said.

In a statement, Trump responded that he did not think Kelly was a "quality journalist."

"Hopefully in the future I will be proven wrong and she will be able to elevate her standards to a level of professionalism that a network such as Fox deserves," Trump said.

[8/20/15] Trump says the pope "seems like a good guy"

[8/14/15] Trump "fired" from Celebrity Apprentice by NBC.  I always thought it was his show.

[7/19/15] The Donald won't apologize.

Donald Trump, the brazen Republican candidate for president, told ABC News Sunday he does not owe Arizona senator John McCain an apology for saying "he's not a war hero" and then later that "he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

"No Not at all," he said in an interview with ABC News Sunday morning.

Trump made the controversial comments at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames Iowa Saturday, which drew a large amount of boos from those in attendance.

The comments renewed calls from Republicans and veterans groups for him to step down for the insensitivity he showed a POW.

“If anyone doesn’t know that John McCain is a war hero, it only proves they know nothing about war and even less about heroism," said Secretary of State John Kerry.

But in the interview, the egomaniac billionaire said he would remain in the race and touted his recent success in the polls.

Trump said his appearance at the conference drew the biggest standing ovation the place received and blamed the negative reaction on the media and other candidates who were getting "one percent or zero."

When given a chance for a mulligan in the broadcast, Trump doubled down many times with his criticism of McCain who he said has done nothing for veterans except "talk."

"I said nothing differently. I am very disappointed in John McCain because the vets are horribly treated in this country. … They're treated like third class citizens, he has done nothing for the vets," Trump said. "And I will tell you they are living in hell."

Later Trump said he will do more for veterans than John McCain has done for "many many years."

"You look at what's happening to veterans they are being decimated," he said. "I will do far more for veterans than anybody."

[7/19/15]  Donald Trump attacked the Arizona senator John McCain on Saturday, for being shot down while a navy pilot during the Vietnam war.


Trump, who has been in a war of words with the 2008 Republican nominee, jibed of McCain: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured.”

His words prompted a strong response from Republican candidates for president in 2016 – more immediate and forceful, indeed, than such reactions to Trump’s recent comments on Mexico and immigration.

The former Texas governor Rick Perry said the remarks represented “a new low in American politics” and demanded that Trump “immediately withdraw from the race for president.”

McCain was held prisoner by North Vietnam for five and a half years, and repeatedly tortured. Trump received several student deferments from Vietnam while in college. After graduating, he received a medical deferment.

His jibe at McCain came in the midst of back-and-forth remarks between the two, in which McCain claimed the attendees at a recent Trump event in Arizona were “crazies”.

Trump responded by calling the Arizona senator “a dummy” because McCain graduated last in his class from the Naval Academy.

In a press conference on Saturday, Trump refused to apologize and said he had nothing to apologize for. Instead, he insisted that he was criticizing McCain for “not doing enough for our veterans”.

[7/17/15] Rick Perry vs. Trump (Trump leads Perry 18% to 1%)

[7/12/15]  Letterman comes out of retirement to deliver special Top Ten List

[7/8/15]  Donald Trump said Wednesday that he believes he will win the Latino vote, slamming Hillary Clinton for promoting what he called an immigration policy that would "let everybody come in… killers, criminals, drug dealers."

"I have a great relationship with the Mexican people. I have many people working for me - look at the job in Washington - I have many legal immigrants working with me. And many of them come from Mexico. They love me, I love them," the 2016 GOP contender said in an interview with NBC News. "And I'll tell you something, if I get the nomination, I'll win the Latino vote."

Trump said that "there's nothing to apologize for" in relation to his controversial comments about Mexico, arguing that he'll win the support of Latinos because of his record creating jobs.

"Hillary Clinton is not going to be able to create jobs, I will tell you right now," he said. "Neither is Jeb Bush going to be able to create jobs. I will create jobs and the Latinos will have jobs that they don't have right now. And I will win that vote."

 He added that Hillary Clinton's immigration policy would be to "let everybody come in… killers, criminals, drug dealers."

"Hillary's weak on immigration," he said. "I might be divisive on immigration, but she's weak on immigration, which is far worse."

"If you listen to Hillary, she is so weak on immigration, we will have a crime rate like you've never seen," he added.

Trump also labeled Clinton "the worst secretary of state in the history of our nation."

"The world blew up around us," he said of her tenure at the helm of the State Department.

[7/6/15] Trump states that his statement has been deliberately distorted by the media.

... I am proud to say that I know many hard working Mexicans—many of them are working for and with me…and, just like our country, my organization is better for it.

I have great respect for Mexico and love their people and their peoples’ great spirit. The problem is, however, that their leaders are far smarter, more cunning, and better negotiators than ours. To the citizens of the United States, who I will represent far better than anyone else as President, the Mexican government is not our friend…and why should they be when the relationship is totally one sided in their favor on both illegal immigration and trade.

Univision, because 70% of their business comes from Mexico, in my opinion, is being dictated to by the Mexican Government. The last thing Mexico wants is Donald Trump as President in that I will make great trade deals for the United States and will have an impenetrable border–only legally approved people will come through easily.

Remember, Univision is the one who began this charade in the first place, and they are owned by one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest backers.

The issues I have addressed, and continue to address, are vital steps to Make America Great Again! Additionally, I would be the best jobs President that God ever created.

[6/29/15] A television company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has cancelled a project with real estate developer and TV personality Donald Trump after his comments insulting Mexicans, Slim's spokesman said on Monday.

This is the third company to cut ties with Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the November 2016 presidential election. NBC said earlier on Monday that it would no longer air the "Miss USA" and "Miss Universe" pageants due to his comments. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision also said on Thursday it would not air the "Miss USA" pageant.

Ora TV, a production company co-founded by Slim and TV personality Larry King and funded by America Movil, cancelled a program it was working on with some of Trump's companies, Slim's spokesman and son-in-law Arturo Elias said.

"His statement was totally out of line...working with someone so closed-minded was not going to work," Elias said, adding that the comments were racist.

Telecoms magnate Slim is the world's second-richest man, with a net worth of around $71.1 billion, according to Forbes. Trump is at number 405 on the list, worth $4.1 billion.

[6/29/15] NBCUniversal, under pressure from an array of Hispanic groups, is severing its business ties to presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The Miss USA pageant, scheduled for July 12, will no longer air on the network. Nor will the Miss Universe pageant, scheduled for next January. Both pageants were, until now, jointly owned by NBC and Trump.

"At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values," the company said in a statement on Monday. "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."

Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Chicago, Trump said he had enjoyed a "great" relationship with NBC but would not back down on his views about immigration. Trump told CNN correspondent Athena Jones that he may sue NBC.

Then, in a statement a few minutes later, he elaborated: "If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico, then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA will be determined in court."

Trump also invoked NBC's suspended anchorman: "They will stand behind lying Brian Williams, but won't stand behind people that tell it like it is, as unpleasant as that may be."

The Miss USA controversy stemmed from comments Trump made during his presidential campaign announcement two weeks ago.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best...They're sending people who have lots of problems," Trump said in the speech. "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people."

These remarks caused a firestorm and widespread condemnation, particularly in the Hispanic community. Univision, the biggest Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, decided to end a five-year contract to air Miss USA and Miss Universe after only five months.

*** [6/28/15]

Washington (CNN)  Don't expect a new season this fall: Donald Trump is giving up "The Apprentice" so that he can run for president.

The Republican real estate mogul cited the popular reality show as evidence that he "gave up hundreds of millions of dollars in deals and potential, you know, things that I do," in an interview aired Sunday with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

"In all fairness, I don't want it to sound trivial, NBC renewed 'The Apprentice,' because we had a great season last season. And they would love me not to be doing this, I will tell you right now," Trump said.

Running for president is affecting Trump's bottom line in other ways, as well.

Univision canceled its broadcast of Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which Trump partially owns, over his controversial remarks about Mexicans in his campaign announcement speech.

Trump has said he plans to sue Univision over its move. 

the plastic bag ban

[8/23/15] Calabash

[7/7/15] A week into Oahu's plastic bag ban, some folks are wondering why so many plastic bags are still being given out at island grocery checkout stands.

Anna Sabino was so alarmed she started a petition at Change.org, demanding that city officials get tough on retailers for breaking the law. Some of the stores, she pointed out, have introduced a thicker plastic bag — and are describing them as reusable — while others are giving out compostable plastic bags.

"Please do not let any store replace plastic bags handed at checkouts by other kinds of plastic bags," the Hono­lulu woman wrote on the petition signed by more than 150 people as of Monday.

While the reality is those kinds of plastic bags are indeed legal, having been added to the ordinance by the Hono­lulu City Council as a compromise to an outright ban on plastic, environmental groups contend the companies that are using the bags are violating the spirit of the law.

"They are taking advantage of a loophole," said Stuart Coleman, Hawaii coordinator with the Surfrider Foundation, which helped lobby for the ordinance.

Acceptable bags under the law, first approved three years ago, include compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and "reusable bags," which have handles and may be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils, or 0.00225 inch, thick.

The city recently surveyed Oahu businesses to see how they planned to comply with the July 1 plastic bag ban. Of those retailers who planned to keep offering bags, 44 percent indicated they would use recyclable paper bags, 25 percent planned to use compostable plastic bags and 31 percent were going to use reusable bags, which includes the thicker plastic bag.

Among the retailers offering the thicker plastic bags are Walmart, Longs, Times Supermarket, Don Quijote, City Mill and Tamura's. Some of the stores are giving the bags away, while others charge a small fee and are touting their potential for reuse.

City Mill offers both a 2.25-mil plastic bag for 10 cents and a reusable "eco-bag" for 99 cents.

Printed on the Walmart heavy-duty plastic bag are the words "Sustainable," "Recyclable" and "Usable."

The Walmart bag was ridiculed by the Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter website as being "the worst." The wording is "blatantly unacceptable and the creation of these bags misses the whole point of the law which aims to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics and protect our marine environments."

Walmart couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Kahi Pacarro, executive director of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, said these retailers are "greenwashing" their actions to make themselves appear environmentally responsible.

"In reality the thicker bag is even worse for the environment because they will take even longer to break down," he said. "It's a slap in the face. We worked so hard to get this passed."

Pacarro said that while the compostable plastic bag is better than the thicker bag, it too is unacceptable. Such bags don't break down in water and require heat from a composting facility. The problem, he said, is that Oahu doesn't have a commercial composting facility.

"Until they get to that composting facility, they remain a risk to our wildlife," he said.

In lieu of a composting facility, the city is advising residents to put compostable bags in the gray cart with their regular ref­use. All regular ref­use on Oahu is sent to the city's HPOWER waste-to-energy facility, where it is incinerated to generate electricity.

"It's important to note that even without a separate composting system for compostable plastic bags, the plastic bag ban will significantly reduce the number of plastic bags being distributed by retailers on Oahu and reduce the number of plastic bags that are littered onto beaches and into the ocean, which is the ultimate goal," Tim Houghton, deputy director of the city Environmental Services Department, said in a statement.

[7/1/15] After three years of warnings, it's finally here.

The city's plastic bag ban becomes law Wednesday.

City Environmental Services Director Lori Kahi­kina, who enforces the ban, admits she's among those having a hard time adjusting.

She estimated she's piled up a dozen reusable bags in the trunk of her car in anticipation of July 1. But like many other folks, she sometimes forgets to take them into the supermarket or store.

"It's going to take some getting used to," Kahi­kina said. "Everyone's just going to have to try to remember to bring in their own bags."

Oahu residents joined folks in the rest of the state Wednesday as the city's plastic bag ban took effect.

The plastic bag ordinance was signed by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle in 2012 and amended last year. While retailers can no longer give customers plastic bags, the ordinance allows for a number of exceptions.

Retailers can choose to give compostable plastic bags along with recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content. The reusables that customers can take to the store are also defined. They have to be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils, or 0.0022 of an inch, thick.

Retailers and restaurateurs can also still use plastic bags to carry plate lunches, poke bowls and other prepared food, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, frozen food and other loose items including nuts, coffee, candy, flowers or plants, medications, newspapers, laundry and pet items.

Those retailers using compostable or paper bags will be paying 10-14 cents a bag, significantly more than the 2 cents a bag they've been paying for plastics. Some retailers have warned that they will have no choice but to pass on those costs to consumers.

Environmental groups, which have led the charge for plastic bag bans, contend the environmental factors far outweigh widespread use of plastic bags.

Some retailers have been gearing up for years. Foodland will give 5 cents credit or three Hawaiian Airlines mileage awards for every reusable bag used.

[6/22/15] Rob Parsons is amazed when he travels to Oahu and sees all the plastic bags being handed out at stores left and right.

"We're so over it," said Parsons, Maui County's environmental coordinator.

With the plastic checkout bag banned on Maui 41⁄2 years ago, the Valley Isle has seen a dramatic difference along roadways, in trees and across the landscape, according to Parsons and others.

"Those windblown plastic bags are all but gone," he said.

It's much the same story on Kauai, which outlawed plastic checkout bags the same time Maui County did, and on Hawaii island, where they were banned in 2013, according to folks on those islands.

Oahu?

Honolulu is about to become the last county in Hawaii to ban the plastic checkout bag. Starting July 1, businesses will be prohibited from giving out plastic bags and nonrecyclable paper bags to their customers at the point of sale for carrying groceries or other merchandise.

The law is being welcomed by those who see it as dealing with the impacts of plastic bags on the environment, which include litter, a growing burden on the landfill and threats to marine life.

Many merchants, on the other hand, warn that the ban will add to the cost of doing business — a cost that undoubtedly will be passed on to customers.

And then there are those who will miss the plastic "T-shirt" bag for its utility as a trash can liner, a pet cleanup bag, a lunch holder and a million other things.

First approved by the Hono­lulu City Council three years ago and signed into law by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle, the law was amended slightly last year and then signed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Acceptable bags include compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and "reusable bags," which have handles and may be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils or 0.00225 inch thick.

The law applies only to bags distributed at checkout. Plastic bags will still be OK for loose items such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, candy, or small hardware items, and for frozen foods, meat or fish, flowers or plants, medications, newspaper, laundry and pet items.

[10/1/14] So, now it's official.

Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell signed Bill 38 into law on Thursday, Sept. 25, which would ban retailers from distributing plastic carryout bags — including biodegradable  bags — starting July 1, 2015.

Oahu follows Maui, Kauai and the Big Island in banning plastic  bags at checkout. But California, not Hawaii, became the first state to ban plastic bags yesterday.

In the first version of the bill, biodegradable bags would have been exempted, until environmentalists pointed out they can be just as damaging in the ocean. Compostable bags that meet the standards of ASTM International are allowed.

The bag ban, though not perfect, is great news for our environment. It's going to be an adjustment for folks who take plastic bags for granted.

In our recent Big Q poll,  the majority of readers (346) said they plan to start hoarding plastic takeout bags in response to the news. I imagine some began hoarding as soon as they heard Honolulu was considering a ban.

How will you prepare for Oahu’s plastic-bag ban at stores, to be effective July 1?

• B. Start hoarding plastic bags (49%, 346 Votes)
• A. Start using recyclable bags (33%, 231 Votes)
• C. Already stopped using plastic (18%, 123 Votes) 

air pollution killing 4000 people a day in China

 Air pollution is killing an average of 4,000 people a day in China, according to researchers who cited coal-burning as the likely principal cause.

Deaths related to the main pollutant, tiny particles known as PM2.5s that can trigger heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and asthma, total 1.6 million a year, or 17 percent of China’s mortality level, according to the study by Berkeley Earth, an independent research group funded largely by educational grants. It was published Thursday in the online peer-reviewed journal PLOS One from the Public Library of Science.

“When I was last in Beijing, pollution was at the hazardous level: Every hour of exposure reduced my life expectancy by 20 minutes,” Richard Muller, scientific director of Berkeley Earth and a co-author of the paper, said in an e-mail. “It’s as if every man, woman and child smoked 1.5 cigarettes each hour.”

Chinese authorities have acknowledged the air pollution situation after heavy smog enveloped swathes of the nation including Beijing and Shanghai in recent years. They’ve adopted air quality standards, introduced monitoring stations and cleaner standards for transportation fuel while shutting coal plants and moving factories out of cities.

China gets about 64 percent of its primary energy from coal, according to National Energy Administration data. It’s closing the dirtiest plants while still planning new, cleaner ones. The country is expected to shut 60 gigawatts of plants from 2016 to 2020 though three times as many plants are scheduled to be built using newer technology, according to Sophie Lu, a Bloomberg New Energy finance analyst in Beijing.

To cut reliance on coal, the nation also wants to derive 20 percent of its energy from renewables and nuclear by 2030, almost double the current share.

Berkeley Earth is funded mainly by educational grants and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. It was started in 2010 to examine global temperatures to see if there was merit in the concerns of skeptics of climate change and has since expanded research to other areas of global warming and air pollution.

the atomic bombs, 70 years later

EDITOR'S NOTE: On two days in August 1945, U.S. planes dropped two atomic bombs — one on Hiroshima, one on Nagasaki, the only times nuclear weapons have been used. Their unprecedented destructive power incinerated buildings and people and left lifelong physical and psychological scars on survivors and on the cities themselves. "Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death," an AP story reported. A few days later, Japan announced its unconditional surrender. World War II was effectively over.

Seventy years later, the AP is making stories about the bombings and surrender available, along with photos.

WASHINGTON, AUG. 6. — An atomic bomb, hailed as the most terrible destructive force in history and as the greatest achievement of organized science, has been loosed upon Japan.

President (Harry) Truman disclosed in a White House statement at 11 a.m. Eastern War Time, today that the first use of the bomb — containing more power than 20,000 tons of TNT and producing more than 2,000 times the blast of the most powerful bomb ever dropped before — was made 16 hours earlier on Hiroshima, a Japanese army base.

The atomic bomb is the answer, President Truman said, to Japan's refusal to surrender. Secretary of War (Henry) Stimson predicted the bomb will prove a tremendous aid in shortening the Japanese war. Mr. Truman grimly warned that "even more powerful forms (of the bomb) are in development."

"If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth," he said.

The War Department reported that "an impenetrable cloud of dust and smoke" cloaked Hiroshima after the bomb exploded. It was impossible to make an immediate assessment of the damage.

...

GUAM, AUG. 9 — The world's second atomic bomb, most destructive explosive invented by man, was dropped on strategically important Nagasaki on western Kyushu Island at noon today.

Crew members radioed that results were good, but Gen. Carl A. Spaatz said additional details would not be disclosed until the mission returns.

Gen. Spaatz's communique reporting the bombing did not say whether only one or more than one "mighty atom" was dropped.

The first atomic bomb destroyed more than 60 percent — 4.1 square miles — of Hiroshima, city of 343,000 population, Monday, and radio Tokyo reported "practically every living thing" there was annihilated.

Japanese perished by uncounted thousands from the searing, crushing atomic blast that smashed Hiroshima, photographic and other evidence indicated today.

The Tokyo radio, which said that "practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death," reported that authorities were still unable to check the total casualties.

Following is the complete text of the Tokyo English-language broadcast as recorded by the Federal Communications Commission:

"With the gradual restoration of order following the disastrous ruin that struck the city of Hiroshima in the wake of the enemy's new-type bomb on Monday morning, the authorities are still unable to obtain a definite check-up on the extent of the casualties sustained by the civilian population.

"Medical relief agencies that were rushed from the neighboring districts were unable to distinguish, much less identify, the dead from the injured.

"The impact of the bomb was so terrific that practically all living things, human and animals, were literally seared to death by the tremendous heat and pressure engendered by the blast. All of the dead and injured were burned beyond recognition.

"With houses and buildings crushed, including the emergency medical facilities, the authorities are having their hands full in giving every available relief possible under the circumstances.


"The effect of the bomb was widespread. Those outdoors burned to death, while those indoors were killed by the indescribable pressure and heat."

...

WASHINGTON, AUG. 14 — The second world war, history's greatest flood of death and destruction, ended tonight with Japan's unconditional surrender.

Formalities still remained — the official signing of surrender terms and a proclamation of V-J Day.
But from the moment President Truman announced at 7 p.m. (EWT) that the enemy of the Pacific had agreed to Allied terms, the world put aside for a time woeful thoughts of the cost in dead and dollars and celebrated in wild frenzy. Formalities meant nothing to people freed at last of war.

To reporters crammed into his office, shoving now-useless war maps against a marble mantle, the president disclosed that:

Japan, without ever being invaded, had accepted completely and without reservation an Allied declaration of Potsdam, dictating unconditional surrender.

...

As the great news became known, hundreds of Washingtonians raced to the White House to join hundreds already massed around the grounds.

Mr. Truman, accompanied by his wife, walked out on the porch and stepped up to a hastily erected microphone. He waved and smiled. Then he spoke:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the great day. This is the day we have been looking for since Dec. 7, 1941.

"This is the day when fascism and police government ceases in the world.

"This is the day for the democracies.

"This is the day when we can start up our real task of implementation of free government in the world.

"We are faced with the greatest task we ever have been faced with. The emergency is as great as it was on Dec. 7, 1941.

"It is going to take the help of all of us to do it. I know we are going to do it."

For millions of Americans, for hundreds of millions of Allied people, his surrender announcement signified victory, peace and the eventual return of loved ones from war. To millions who sleep beneath stark white crosses, it meant their sacrifices had not been vain.

First Republican Debate

[8/6/15]  Minutes

New York Times analysis

Donald Trump's performance

8 takeaways

the 5pm debate (replay) / the prime time debate (replay)

[8/5/15] Fox News has announced the 10 candidates that will be on stage for the first Republican presidential debate later this week, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie narrowly making the cut.

Fox News’s decision to cap the prime-time debate at 10 candidates based on five previously-unspecified national polls led to weeks of intense speculation over who would be in and who would be out.

Recent polls showed a defined tier of eight candidates that appeared to be locks for the debate.

As expected, frontrunner Donald Trump will take center stage. Since launching his bid for the White House in mid-June, Trump has rocketed to the top of the national polls, with four recent surveys showing him with a double-digit lead over the next closest contender.

Joining him on stage will be former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who have been polling in second or third place nationally, depending on the survey.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul have also been invited to the main event.

Much of the drama in weeks leading up to Tuesday’s announcement centered around who fill the final two slots in ninth place and tenth place.

Christie and Kasich did just enough to improve their standing in the polls and secure their spots on stage, giving an early boost to both of their campaigns.

For Kasich, the prospect of getting left off the stage for a debate taking place in his home-state would have been an embarrassing slight.

For those who missed the prime-time cut, Fox News is holding a one-hour forum that will air at 5 p.m. on Thursday ahead of the 9 p.m. debate.

The forum was originally scheduled to be 90 minutes and take place at 1 p.m., but Fox has moved it closer to prime-time while cutting it down to one hour.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki, and former Sen. Jim Gilmore have been invited to that event.

Kim Jung Un awarded peace prize

A daughter of Indonesia's founding president has defended honouring North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with an award for statesmanship, dismissing criticisms of his human rights record as "Western propaganda".

Rachmawati Sukarnoputri confirmed the leader would receive an award from her organisation, the Sukarno Education Foundation, in September for his "peace, justice and humanity".

The decision to award the autocrat such an accolade -- handed in the past to such freedom icons as Mahatma Gandhi and Aung San Suu Kyi -- has made headlines and triggered an outpouring of ridicule and disbelief.

But Sukarnoputri brushed aside questions of Kim's suitability for the award, saying the young leader "should be honoured for his fight against neo-colonialist imperialism".

"The allegations about human rights abuses are untrue," she told AFP.

"That's all just Western propaganda. Those Western governments like to put ugly labels on North Korea."

Her father, Indonesia's first president Sukarno, established early ties with North Korea back in the 1950s.

Jakarta has maintained open relations with Pyongyang ever since. In April President Joko Widodo hosted a delegation from the reclusive state as part of an international conference.

It is not the first time Rachmawati's foundation has handed its top prize to a member of North Korea's ruling family. In 2001 the award was posthumously given to Kim's grandfather, the state's founding father Kim Il Sung.

Rachmawati drew parallels between the younger Kim and her own father, the leader of Indonesia's independence struggle who ruled the Southeast Asian archipelago until he was overthrown in 1965.

"Sukarno was also accused of being an evil dictator who violated human rights, but this was proven otherwise over time," she said.

Rachmawati is also the younger sister of Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's fifth president, who remains one of the country's most powerful political figures.

Kim is known for his ruthlessness in dealing with even the most senior officials suspected of disloyalty, following the execution of his uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek in 2013.

South Korean intelligence reported in May that he had his defence minister shot to pieces with anti-aircraft fire for insubordination and dozing off during a formal military rally.