Barash is the chief medical officer for the GE Foundation, which gives communities medical equipment and helps train health workers. He spent several years inspecting surgery rooms in developing countries. Australia is withdrawing its ambassador from Jakarta following Indonesia's execution of two Australians convicted of drug smuggling.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, at a news conference today, called the executions of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, two of the so-called Bali 9, "cruel" and "unnecessary." He called it a "dark moment" in the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
"We do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," he said. "For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families, our ambassador will be withdrawn for consultations.
"I want to stress that this is a very important relationship between Australia and Indonesia but it has suffered as a result of what's been done over the last few hours."
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said it's the first time Australia has taken such a step when its citizens have been executed. The country does not have the death penalty.
Speaking alongside Abbott, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed the men had been executed by firing squad.
Sukumaran and Chan were the ringleaders of the group that was caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali in 2005. Their case attracted wide attention, in part because the pair have reportedly reformed themselves in the nearly 10 years since their arrest. A statement by the two families, cited by ABC, said:
"In the 10 years since they were arrested, they did all they could to make amends, helping many others. They asked for mercy, but there was none. They were immensely grateful for all the support they received. We too, will be forever grateful."
Indonesia executed eight of the nine people convicted in the case. Filipina Mary Jane Veloso was spared at the last moment; the mother of two had claimed she had been forced into being a drug courier by a human trafficker. Her alleged recruiter turned herself in Tuesday morning.
The families of the convicted drug smugglers held farewell meetings with them today. Three of them were from Nigeria, and one each from Brazil, Ghana and Indonesia.
The Jakarta Post newspaper quoted Suhendro Putro, funeral director with the Javanese Christian Church in Cilacap, as saying the executions were carried out at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday local time.
NPR's Eleanor Beardsley tells our Newscast unit that a full investigation is underway after up to 10 boys said they suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the French peacekeepers between December 2013 and June 2014 as the U.N. mission in that country was being established. Locals interviewed on French radio spoke of soldiers demanding sexual favors in exchange for food, Eleanor reports. Up to 16 soldiers may have been involved.
The French Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it had begun an investigation in late July 2014. Saudi Arabia's King Salman has issued a series of royal decrees bringing about a dramatic reshuffling in the line of succession and ushering in a younger generation to take up key ministerial positions.
This is the second major shake-up to the ranks of power in the kingdom since the 79-year-old Salman assumed the throne Jan. 23.
(There are roughly 15,000 princes and princesses in Saudi Arabia, but power is consolidated among a few. You can follow along with this helpful Wall Street Journal family tree.)
The most surprising change is the naming of a new heir to the throne. Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz is out, replaced by the country's powerful interior minister, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who also happens to be the king's nephew. Prince Muqrin was close to King Abdullah, who died in January.
Replacing him with Prince Nayef as crown heir is the equivalent "of defenestrating Prince Charles and installing Prince William as the Prince of Wales," according to The Guardian.
In another move, the king's son Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now second in line to the throne. Prince Mohammed, who is believed to be about 29, is also Saudi Arabia's defense minister.
Prince Nayef and Prince Mohammed are grandsons of the kingdom's founding monarch, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. NPR's Leila Fadel says the royal decrees push a new generation into the line of succession.
Both men are seen as ensuring Saudi Arabia will have a more aggressive foreign policy, one that was heralded when King Salman took power. This includes confronting its regional rival, Iran.
The kingdom has also taken on a more active military role, joining a U.S.-led push against militants with the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Prince Mohammed also has spearheaded a controversial Saudi-led air campaign against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has criticized Saudi's actions in Yemen, according to The Wall Street Journal, saying the kingdom's traditional caution in world affairs has been jettisoned by "inexperienced youngsters who want to show savagery instead of patience and self-restraint." President Obama's plan for creating a Pacific Rim trade zone has been hovering in the wings, waiting for the right moment to demand attention.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushed it out on to center stage during a dramatic joint meeting of the As we were parsing through the dietary secrets of the Blue Zones, as described in author Dan Buettner's latest book, The Blues Zones Solution, we were struck by how essential tea drinking is in these regions. In fact, Buettner's Blue Zones Beverage Rule — a kind of guideline distilled from his 15 or so years of studying these places — is: "Drink coffee for breakfast, tea in the afternoon, wine at 5 p.m."
In Okinawa, Japan, for example, Buettner watched one 104-year-old "make jasmine tea, squatting in the corner and pouring hot water over tea leaves as the room filled with a delicate, floral aroma." Indeed, Okinawans call their tea shan-pien, or "tea with a bit of scent," which combines green tea leaves, jasmine flowers and a bit of turmeric.
And, of course, science has plenty to say about the healthful virtues of green tea. Researchers are most smitten with catechins, antoxidants that show up in green tea, as well as foods like cocoa. Why might they help so many Okinawans break 100? Catechins and other compounds in green tea can lower the risk of stroke, heart disease and several cancers. One review study also found that drinking green tea slightly boosts metabolism. U.S. House and Senate. He urged Congress to approve the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
"We must take the lead to build a market that is fair, dynamic, sustainable," he said. "The TPP covers an area that accounts for 40 percent of the world economy and one-third of global trade. We must turn the area into a region for lasting peace and prosperity."
Whether Abe's words swayed many lawmakers is not yet clear. But his personal lobbying did turn up the political heat. Abe wants Congress to approve the proposed trading partnership among 12 nations, including the United States and Japan.