Joyce Meyer sued by insurance company

Andy Dunaway / AP With her trademark purple bible in hand, Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries take to the stage on a Friday evening in Atlanta during a summe.

Andy Dunaway / AP With her trademark purple bible in hand, Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries take to the stage on a Friday evening in Atlanta during a summe.

Judge Milton Wharton arranged for copies of more than 100 photos and other material -- including videos of the interrogation of Coleman by detectives and deposi.

April 6, 2011 -- Joyce Meyer makes her way into the Monroe County Courthouse in Waterloo, Ill., to give a deposition in the Coleman murder case. Stephanie S. Cordle scordle@post-dispatch.com ST. LOUIS • An insurance company is asking a federal judge to

Canadians to board Gaza flotilla expect federal help

Canadians joining a maritime convoy to bring aid to Palestinians are counting on federal government help if the mission goes awry.

But Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has already denounced the effort to visit the Gaza Strip — which is under a naval blockade by Israel — as "provocative."

The first mission by the international fleet last year ended in bloodshed. Nine people were killed and 45 injured after Israeli soldiers boarded a Turkish ship.

Organizers insist they are not transporting arms to the Palestinians but Israel has already indicated it will stop this year's effort from getting through the blockade.

Among the Canadians are Manon Masse of Quebec solidaire, a small left-wing provincial party, and Marie-Eve Rancourt of the Quebec league of human rights and freedoms.

They insisted Friday that the trip is necessary and the travellers' actions are peaceful.

But Rancourt acknowledged the mission is risky and said she expects she might end up in jail. 

"What we're doing is legal," she said. "Killing people who are delivering humanitarian aid — that's illegal and, frankly, it's immoral."

Both women said they expect the Canadian government to intervene and protect its citizens if there is trouble.

They criticized the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which they accused of doing nothing for Palestinians.

"We're not going there to get shot at," Masse said. "But if anything were to happen to us, we would turn to our governments. All governments have a responsibility to protect."

Rancourt said the Canadian government would have several responsibilities to fulfill in case protesters are arrested, including providing diplomatic and consular services.

"If the Canadian government doesn't work to free us in case of imprisonment or to insist that our rights be respected, it will be responsible," Rancourt said.

Other Canadians setting sail on the Tahrir as part of Freedom Flotilla 2 are Robert Lovelace, a former chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and now a Queen's University professor and filmmaker John Greyson.

Beside the Canadians, there will also be delegates from Australia, Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

They say that humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory is at a trickle and insist the blockade is illegal and isolating, resulting in a humanitarian crisis.

The vessel, which will carry medicine and medical supplies, will leave from Greece early next week in a convoy of 10 ships.

Beijing embassy school's long march ends

BEIJING: The shutting down of a school inside the Indian embassy complex in Beijing on Monday may anger Indian parents whose kids got good education at affordable fees but it marks an endorsement by India of the Chinese capital as a global city.

The school was set up 30 years ago so that embassy employees didn't have to send their children to Chinese schools during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong's decade of purges and pogroms. From the mid-1960s, the 'Gang of Four', that included Mao's last wife Jiang Qing, controlled most Communist Party organs and set out to remodel the education system, taking a cue from Mao's "Learn from the proletariat" slogan. That meant a curriculum rooted in Mao's ideals and hardships like long hours on the farm.

"The school has outlived its original purpose, which was to provide a facility during the Cultural Revolution when there were not enough schools for expats," said ambassador S Jaishankar, as a children's party was on to mark the closure of the school.

Beijing had grown into an international city with educational options. And there were very few children of Indian officials or the larger Indian community studying in the school, Jaishankar said.

But many Indian employees said the decision was bound to affect those who work for companies that refuse to reimburse the high cost of schooling, which is usually higher than $1,500 a month. It would make Beijing a less attractive posting, they said. "I may have to send my child to India as I cannot afford fees in international schools," a parent said. The school inside the embassy premises served kids between the kindergarten and Class IV.

"We requested the embassy to close one class each year so that our educational plans are not disturbed. The parents raised this issue during the meeting with the ambassador. But it was rejected," he said.

Fees at this school were possibly the lowest at about $200 a month compared to other English-medium schools in Beijing that charge about $1,500. The only other low cost-option is a school run by Pakistan Embassy.

The Indian school also served a diplomatic purpose because parents working in embassies of several other countries sent their kids. It also meant substantial saving for the Indian government because it did not pay embassy employees the higher fees charged by other schools till Class IV.