Whole Foods Market Inc. is being bought by Amazon.com Inc. in a major shake-up for both the homegrown Austin organic grocery chain and the Seattle-based e-commerce giant. Both companies have major operations in Colorado. Whole Foods has numerous stores across the state, while Amazon operates a "sortation" warehouse in Aurora, is building a fulfillment center there, and just announced plans for another fulfillment complex i Thornton. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has agreed to pay $42 per share in cash…
Reported by bizjournals 3 hours ago.
Amazon agrees to buy Whole Foods for $13.7B
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Could Aurora Cannabis Inc. Lead in Germany?
How likely is it that Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSXV:ACB) will become a market leader in Germany after acquiring Pedanios GmbH?
Reported by Motley Fool 3 hours ago.
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How China’s Futuristic Online Movie Ticketing Works
Despite its use as shorthand for theatrical movie revenue, the actual physical box office has been declining in importance. Every year, more and more people are buying tickets online, either directly through theaters or via third-party services.And no where has that growth been more pronounced than in China, where it’s estimated that upwards of 80 percent of its rapidly growing moviegoer class purchases their tickets online, and almost all of them through mobile apps.
In fact, online ticketing is so important in China that the pullback of generous subsidies was likely a contributing factor in the country’s box office struggles last year. After years of double-digit growth, the Chinese box office grew less than four percent in 2016, and actually dropped in dollar terms, as the country’s currency weakened throughout the year.
*Also Read:* TheGrill 2016: Why Online Ticketing in China Is All About Social Media (Video)
TheWrap was in Shanghai last week for the CES Asia consumer electronics show and took advantage of a little bit of free time before flying back to California to see firsthand how online movie ticket buying works in China — and why it’s become so popular.
The Aurora International Cinema in Shanghai’s Pudong district does indeed have a physical ticket desk, called “Ticket Box,” but TheWrap did not observe a single customer actually making a purchase there. Instead, they immediately headed to a row of kiosks lined up along the wall.
The vending machine-sized black kiosks have a list of compatible online ticketing platforms on their upper right, including Mtime (owned by AMC Theatres parent Dalian Wanda Group), WeChat’s WePiao, Gewara and Meituan.
They also have a large touchscreen with two buttons, “Pickup Using Barcode” and “Pickup Using Booking Reference” (you can toggle between Chinese and English for the descriptions). And under the list of online platforms is a glowing white optical scanner, to which TheWrap observed multiple people pressing the faces on their phones and collecting the printed tickets that almost instantly dropped into the machine’s lower slot.
*Also Read:* How Streaming Overtook Traditional TV in China - and Now Targets the Movie Business
Customers can also choose the second option and manually enter a redemption code on the kiosk and pick up their tickets that way, but that’s positively Luddite in a country where the younger generation essentially lives on their smartphones.
WeChat, owned by mega-conglomerate Tencent, is not just China’s answer to iMessage or WhatsApp, but with 600 million mobile payment users, it also effectively serves as a wide swath’s of the country’s wallet. And WeChat isn’t the only one — Alibaba and Baidu, which both have their own online ticketing apps, also have mobile payment services, Alipay and Baidu Wallet. And as the three tech titans, often abbreviated as the BAT companies, battled it out for market share over the previous few years, they doled out massive subsidies that allowed Chinese consumers to see a brand new studio film in Imax 3D for as little as $5.
Online ticketing in the United States has grown to make up a material part of the business, with an estimated 30 percent of U.S. moviegoers buying their tickets online last year. But that requires a visit to a theater website or third-party portal like Fandango, which isn’t part of most people’s daily lives. WeChat is, and it has a handy “movie tickets” button on the home screen of its Wallet feature, making buying tickets online almost analogous to — and nearly as fast as — reaching into our own physical wallets to find the right credit card.
*Also Read:* China Sovereign Wealth Fund Exec Blasts China's Forays Into Hollywood
“You always carry a wallet, and whenever you open [it], there is a button for movie ticketing,” Luke Xiang, the vice president of WePiao parent WeYing Technology, said at TheGrill, TheWrap’s annual entertainment and media conference at the Montage Beverly Hills in September. “We can push to you based on your interests or historical habits, so we make the ticketing experience so smooth, so easy, from starting the browsing for the tickets to picking the seat, finding special deals and making the payment. Everything can be done in 10 seconds.”
Unfortunately, a tight schedule prevented TheWrap from sitting down and enjoying Warner Bros. latest DC Comics movie “Wonder Woman” at the Aurora theater, but that’s something that can easily be done in the United States. The online ticketing system was the real show in China.
*Related stories from TheWrap:*
How Streaming Overtook Traditional TV in China – and Now Targets the Movie Business
Huahua Media CEO Explains How to Market Movies in China
TheGrill 2016 Preview: Why Social Media Is Vital To China's Movie Ticket Sales Reported by The Wrap 10 hours ago.
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Critics’ arts and entertainment picks for Pride Week
Critics’ arts and entertainment picks for Pride Week Some suggestions from our critics on arts and entertainment events around the Bay Area during Gay Pride Week. Opera “Rigoletto”: Verdi’s haunting tragedy returns to the War Memorial Opera House with Quinn Kelsey in the title role of the malevolent jester, Pene Pati as the licentious Duke of Mantua, and Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze as Gilda. 7:30 p.m. $26-$397. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-3330. www.sfopera.com Theater “The Legend of Georgia McBride”: When his career as an Elvis impersonator fails to take off, Casey (Adam Magill) applies his skill set to a new discipline: drag. 2 and 7:30 p.m. $22 and up. Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. www.marintheatre.org Movies “Sleeping Beauty”: Be enchanted with this 1959 animation classic in which Maleficent places a curse on Princess Aurora. Spoiler alert: Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery St. in the Presidio, S.F. http://waltdisney.com Museums Once located underneath the Cliff House restaurant, this classic collection of vintage arcade machines, mechanical musical equipment and other wonderful machinery is the best reason to visit Fisherman’s Wharf. 10 a.m. Free, Pier 45 at the end of Taylor Street, SF. “The Dinosaurs of Comedy”: Their DNA carefully preserved in amber, the Dinosaurs of Comedy include Johnny Steele, Larry “Bubbles” Brown and Michael Meehan — who all worked in the Golden Age 1980s/early 1990s local scene. Punch Line comedy club. 444 Battery St., S.F. www.punchlinecomedyclub.com Visual Art Paintings: Uncanny technical skill combined with an eye for the telling emotional detail mark the unveiling of this artist’s exacting replicas of old snapshots. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays. Fraenkel Gallery, 49 Geary St., S.F. https://fraenkelgallery.com Visual Art Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll: A lively exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the most influential moments in a movement that shaped a generation — and it happened in San Francisco. 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. $10-$25. De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., S.F. http://deyoung.famsf.org Movies “Road to Morocco”: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour star in this comedy classic, the No. 4 box office film of 1942. The Stanford Theatre, 221 University Ave., Palo Alto. www.stanfordtheatre.com Nightclub The popular Bay Area comedian, whom The Chronicle has called “salaciously surreal” and who has been seen on HBO and Showtime, performs at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. 7 p.m. Free, with $20 drink and food minimum. 222 Mason St., S.F. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com Visual Art For visitors who wish to know more about the sources of contemporary art in San Francisco, a visit to this art environment, developed over three decades by a dedicated and inventive maverick, is a must. Tours 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., Wednesdays-Saturdays; advance booking encouraged. $15-$20. Theater “Sex and the City Live!” The drag queens of Oasis essay the cosmo-drinking, Manoho Blahnik-sporting foursome of HBO’s sassy comedy, set when a sex columnist could afford a spacious Manhattan apartment. The renowned choreographer celebrates the 30th anniversary of his company with the world premiere of “Nobody Lives Here Now,” a reflection on human existence. 8 p.m. $25-$65. Yerba Buena for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard St., S.F. www.ybca.org Classical Music San Francisco Symphony: Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas is joined by mezzo-soprano Measha Brueggergosman for the West Coast premiere of his own “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind.” The program also features American music by Ives, Harrison and Antheil. 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 23; 8 p.m. Saturday, June 24; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25. $45-$165. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org Pop Music The French electronic music duo made up of Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin brings its sensual sounds to San Francisco, revisiting nearly two decades worth of classic down-tempo hits such as “Sexy Boy” and “Kelly Watch the Stars.” Movies “Sullivan’s Travels”: Preston Sturges’ greatest film is this comedy-drama about a movie director, a comedy specialist, who decides to devote his life to social realism. 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 23. $7. The Stanford Theatre, 221 University Ave., Palo Alto. www.stanfordtheatre.com Theater “What You Will”: Playwright Max Gutmann slices and dices the text of Shakespeare’s plays to create a new work, for Pear Theatre, about a newlywed courtier confronting a civil war. 8 p.m. $10-$35. Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida St., Mountain View. www.thepear.org 8 p.m. $20-$50, ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. www.odctheater.org Pop Music On his latest album, “Skeleton Tree,” the Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave lays bare the emotional upheaval that came after losing his 15-year-old son, Arthur, in 2015. [...] he’s on the road, commiserating with fans who have shared his pain. 8 p.m. Saturday, June 24. Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley, 2001 Gayley Road, Berkeley. www.ticketmaster.com Pop Music The quirky Brazilian singer who stole the show in Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” as the David Bowie-obsessed singing sailor Pele dos Santos is on the road with his Portuguese versions of the Thin White Duke’s classics like “Rebel Rebel,” “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars.” Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.ticketmaster.com Opera Festival Opera: The estimable East Bay company presents a double bill of Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” — with soprano Hope Briggs, tenor Alex Boyer and baritone Hadleigh Adams — together with Kurt Weill’s moral tale “The Seven Deadly Sins” featuring soprano Laura Bohn. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Church of 8 Wheels: There are no official roller discos left in San Francisco, so David Miles created one in an old church on Fillmore Street for weekend skating. Daytime skating on Saturday is all ages. Saturday night is the 21-over Black Rock Roller Disco. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday June 24. $10 (plus $5 skate rental). Church of 8 Wheels, 554 Fillmore St., S.F. www.churchof8wheels.com
Reported by SFGate 11 hours ago.
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Denver unemployment rate up by a sliver in May while total jobs grow
In Metro Denver, there were 7,388 more people employed in May than the previous month, according to data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Employment stood at 1,546,111 in metro Denver, a 10-county area that includes Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Broomfield and Centennial, but not Boulder County. In Boulder County, employment was slightly down to 183,119 from the previous month when it was 183,766. Still Boulder County posted one of the state's lowest unemployment rates of 2.11 percent. In…
Reported by bizjournals 10 hours ago.
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Mother of twins with heart condition who could not climb stairs told not to use buzzer for help at Yeovil sorting office
Lucy Fletcher's twins, Aurelia and Aurora both have serious heart conditions
Reported by Blackmore Vale 28 minutes ago.
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RE/MAX Northern Illinois Salutes Its Brokers Who Are Taking Leadership Roles in Realtor Organizations
The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network recently saluted the RE/MAX brokers across the region who are playing vital roles in support of their local Realtor organizations.
ELGIN, Ill. (PRWEB) June 17, 2017
The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network recently saluted the RE/MAX brokers across the region who are playing vital roles in support of their local Realtor organizations.
“For those of us in the real estate business, local Realtor boards are incredibly important because they maintain the structure that allows our marketplace to efficiently serve the needs of our customers,” explained Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois.
“RE/MAX brokers have a remarkable record of service to those organizations, and their efforts are deeply appreciated. On behalf of the more than 2,250 brokers in our region, I want to thank those who are currently continuing that tradition,” he said.
The following is a list of those RE/MAX brokers currently serving as leaders of local Realtor boards in northern Illinois.
Heartland Realtor Organization
Director, Becky Kirchner, RE/MAX Plaza, Woodstock
HomeTown Association of Realtors
Director, Rorry Heide-Skora, RE/MAX Experience, Sycamore
Mainstreet Organization of Realtors
President, Catherine Terpstra, RE/MAX All Pro, Bloomingdale
President Elect, Karen Irace, RE/MAX 1st Service, Orland Park
Director, Linda Dressler, RE/MAX Suburban, Schaumburg
North Shore-Barrington Association of Realtors
Director, Luigui Corral, RE/MAX United, Wheeling
Driector, Keith Hancock, RE/MAX Villager, Glenview
Oak Park Area Association of Realtors
Immediate Past President, Jane McClelland, RE/MAX in the Village, Realtors, Oak Park
Realtor Association of Northwestern Illinois (RANWIL)
Director, Patricia Kloepping, RE/MAX Town Lake and Country, Lake Carroll
Realtor Association of the Fox Valley
Director, Lucas Albright, RE/MAX Town & Country, Aurora
Director, Christopher Tenggren, RE/MAX All Pro, St. Charles
Three Rivers Association of Realtors
Director, Ryan Behrens, RE/MAX Ultimate Professionals, Shorewood
Director, Jim Ludes, RE/MAX Top Properties, Morris
RE/MAX agents consistently rank among the most productive in the industry. In 2016, RE/MAX Northern Illinois agents averaged 18 transaction sides. RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 and is continually growing. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 103 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. Its mobile real estate app, available for download at http://www.illinoisproperty.com, provides comprehensive information about residential and commercial property for sale in the region. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 110,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: RE/MAX® is a registered trademark. Please spell in all caps. Thank you. This release is posted at blog.illinoisproperty.com Reported by PRWeb 23 hours ago.
ELGIN, Ill. (PRWEB) June 17, 2017
The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network recently saluted the RE/MAX brokers across the region who are playing vital roles in support of their local Realtor organizations.
“For those of us in the real estate business, local Realtor boards are incredibly important because they maintain the structure that allows our marketplace to efficiently serve the needs of our customers,” explained Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois.
“RE/MAX brokers have a remarkable record of service to those organizations, and their efforts are deeply appreciated. On behalf of the more than 2,250 brokers in our region, I want to thank those who are currently continuing that tradition,” he said.
The following is a list of those RE/MAX brokers currently serving as leaders of local Realtor boards in northern Illinois.
Heartland Realtor Organization
Director, Becky Kirchner, RE/MAX Plaza, Woodstock
HomeTown Association of Realtors
Director, Rorry Heide-Skora, RE/MAX Experience, Sycamore
Mainstreet Organization of Realtors
President, Catherine Terpstra, RE/MAX All Pro, Bloomingdale
President Elect, Karen Irace, RE/MAX 1st Service, Orland Park
Director, Linda Dressler, RE/MAX Suburban, Schaumburg
North Shore-Barrington Association of Realtors
Director, Luigui Corral, RE/MAX United, Wheeling
Driector, Keith Hancock, RE/MAX Villager, Glenview
Oak Park Area Association of Realtors
Immediate Past President, Jane McClelland, RE/MAX in the Village, Realtors, Oak Park
Realtor Association of Northwestern Illinois (RANWIL)
Director, Patricia Kloepping, RE/MAX Town Lake and Country, Lake Carroll
Realtor Association of the Fox Valley
Director, Lucas Albright, RE/MAX Town & Country, Aurora
Director, Christopher Tenggren, RE/MAX All Pro, St. Charles
Three Rivers Association of Realtors
Director, Ryan Behrens, RE/MAX Ultimate Professionals, Shorewood
Director, Jim Ludes, RE/MAX Top Properties, Morris
RE/MAX agents consistently rank among the most productive in the industry. In 2016, RE/MAX Northern Illinois agents averaged 18 transaction sides. RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 and is continually growing. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 103 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. Its mobile real estate app, available for download at http://www.illinoisproperty.com, provides comprehensive information about residential and commercial property for sale in the region. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 110,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations.
####
EDITOR’S NOTE: RE/MAX® is a registered trademark. Please spell in all caps. Thank you. This release is posted at blog.illinoisproperty.com Reported by PRWeb 23 hours ago.
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Community College of Aurora censured for violating academic freedom of instructor
The Community College of Aurora was censured by the nation's 100-year-old association for college professors Saturday for "serious departures from principles and standards of academic freedom" over the firing of a part-time philosophy instructor last year.
Reported by Denver Post 8 hours ago.
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‘Broken River,’ by J. Robert Lennon
Located in central New York, perhaps not far from Ithaca, where Lennon teaches at Cornell, it is a dismal, dying place that houses a prison but lacks a bookstore or movie theater. On the outskirts of Broken River, what one resident calls “a small house in the woods, far from anything” sets the savage plot in motion. Renewed attention to the case propels the original perpetrators — Joe, a thuggish psychopath, and Louis, a carpet salesman who is his reluctant accomplice — back into action. Novels such as his 2003 “Mailman” — about a deranged mail carrier, and his 2009 “Castle” — about a man who becomes obsessed with the mysterious structure abutting his own wooded property — have little in common with “Broken River” other than a central New York setting and a pervasive anxiety over the menace of the ordinary. Fearful of litigation, Lennon’s publisher chose not to release “Happyland,” a novel with loose parallels to efforts by Pleasant Rowland, the creator of American Girl dolls, to take over Aurora, N.Y. It was serialized by Harper’s in 2006. A critical darling who began his career with a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for his debut novel, “The Light of Falling Stars” (1997), Lennon seems always on the cusp of popular success, and his own uncertain status, dangling between literary and commercial fiction, is reflected in the two artists in his latest novel. Beginning with the double murder that launches the intricately connected proceedings, the Observer sees everything and marvels at “this skein of cause and effect” that constitutes the novel’s plot. [...] what to make of the foolish, self-destructive human species? It is baffling to the Observer, the things they do, the patterns they create that they inhabit and re-create again and again.
Reported by SFGate 19 hours ago.
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Officer involved shooting in Aurora following chase from Denver
Police shot the suspect in East Aurora near Alameda Parkway and East Ohio Drive after a police pursuit that began in Denver.
Reported by Denver Post 7 hours ago.
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Denver police officer shoots suspect in Aurora after chase
A Denver police officer shot and wounded a suspect in Aurora, who has been taken to a hospital.
Reported by Denver Post 7 hours ago.
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Would Aurora homeowners support building a racetrack if it’s at least a half-mile from their door?
The Aurora City Council will vote Monday whether to send to a November ballot measure a proposal for an entertainment district that could include a NASCAR-style racetrack, one that would be no closer than a half-mile from any home in Aurora.
Reported by Denver Post 3 hours ago.
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Man fatally shot in Aurora; suspect arrested on RTD bus
A man was fatally shot in Aurora Monday afternoon and a suspect in his death was arrested a short distance away on an RTD bus.
Reported by Denver Post 3 hours ago.
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Aurora City Council votes to refer entertainment district measure to ballot
The Aurora City Council on Monday voted 7-3 to put a measure on the November ballot that will ask voters whether they approve of an entertainment district, possibly anchored by a racetrack, to be built in a far-away section of the city.
Reported by Denver Post 2 hours ago.
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How to catch the northern lights
Of all the stunning natural phenomena, the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, might be the most spectacular. “The northern lights result when charged particles streaming from the sun collide with molecules high up in Earth’s atmosphere, exciting these molecules and causing them to glow,” according to Space.com. Those glowing streaks in theThe post How to catch the northern lights appeared first on GrindTV.com. Reported by GrindTV 1 hour ago.
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What We Know About The 3 Americans Still Imprisoned In North Korea
Three Americans remain imprisoned in North Korea after the release of 22-year-old Ohio native Otto Warmbier, who died Monday after returning to the U.S. in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” last week.
North Korean officials reportedly detained Warmbier in January 2016 at Pyongyang International Airport and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for attempting to steal a government banner.
“We hold North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier’s unjust imprisonment, and demand the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote in a statement.
North Korea has released few, if any, details about the status of the remaining detainees, all of whom are Korean-American.
The first prisoner, Kim Dong-chul, worked as a businessman and was detained in 2015, months before Warmbier’s arrest. The other two prisoners ― Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim ― both worked at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology and were detained in April and May this year.
Kim Dong-chulNorth Korean officials allegedly arrested Kim Dong-chul, a businessman, in October 2015 while he was reportedly attempting to receive classified information from a former government agent.
CNN first reported Kim’s imprisonment in January 2016 after North Korean officials granted the network an exclusive interview with him at a hotel in Pyongyang.
In the interview, Kim said he was a 62-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen and had previously lived in Fairfax, Virginia. He said he had been the president of an international trade and hotel services company that operated in Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea’s northern border.
“I’m asking the U.S. or South Korean government to rescue me,” he told CNN.
In March 2016, KCNA reported that Kim had confessed to attempting to steal military secrets under the direction of the U.S. and South Korea. Both countries have denied the accusation.
He was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in April 2016 for spying.
Tony KimNorth Korean authorities reportedly detained Kim on April 23 at the Pyongyang International Airport as he was attempting to leave the country with his wife.
The 58-year-old was arrested for committing “hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert” North Korea, according to the state-run news agency KCNA.
Kim was born Kim Sang Dok, but goes by his American name, Tony. He studied at Aurora University in Illinois and the University of California, Riverside, according to his Facebook page.
Prior to his arrest, Kim spent a month teaching accounting at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the university’s chancellor, Chan-Mo Park, told The New York Times.
“The cause of his arrest is not known but some officials at PUST told me his arrest was not related to his work at PUST,” Park told Reuters. “He had been involved with some other activities outside PUST such as helping an orphanage.”
Last month, an unidentified PUST official told Reuters that Kim’s wife had returned to the United States, but The New York Times reports that she is still believed to be in North Korea.
Kim Hak-songKim Hak-song, who also worked at PUST, was detained two weeks after Tony Kim. He was arrested on a China-bound train from Pyongyang and is also being held for committing “hostile acts.” It’s unclear if the two arrests are connected.
Kim reportedly studied at a university in California and became a U.S. citizen in the 2000s before moving back to China, where he was born, 10 years later.
Prior to his arrest, Kim managed the experimental farm at PUST’s college of agriculture and life sciences, Park told Reuters. He was concerned about North Korea’s food shortage and wanted to improve the country’s agricultural economy, CNN reported.
“North Korea is persecuting their savior, a person who came to help them,” David Lee, one of Kim’s former classmates, told CNN. “This is wrong.”type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=594834d4e4b0cddbb008ccff
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
North Korean officials reportedly detained Warmbier in January 2016 at Pyongyang International Airport and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for attempting to steal a government banner.
“We hold North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier’s unjust imprisonment, and demand the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote in a statement.
North Korea has released few, if any, details about the status of the remaining detainees, all of whom are Korean-American.
The first prisoner, Kim Dong-chul, worked as a businessman and was detained in 2015, months before Warmbier’s arrest. The other two prisoners ― Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim ― both worked at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology and were detained in April and May this year.
Kim Dong-chulNorth Korean officials allegedly arrested Kim Dong-chul, a businessman, in October 2015 while he was reportedly attempting to receive classified information from a former government agent.
CNN first reported Kim’s imprisonment in January 2016 after North Korean officials granted the network an exclusive interview with him at a hotel in Pyongyang.
In the interview, Kim said he was a 62-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen and had previously lived in Fairfax, Virginia. He said he had been the president of an international trade and hotel services company that operated in Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea’s northern border.
“I’m asking the U.S. or South Korean government to rescue me,” he told CNN.
In March 2016, KCNA reported that Kim had confessed to attempting to steal military secrets under the direction of the U.S. and South Korea. Both countries have denied the accusation.
He was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in April 2016 for spying.
Tony KimNorth Korean authorities reportedly detained Kim on April 23 at the Pyongyang International Airport as he was attempting to leave the country with his wife.
The 58-year-old was arrested for committing “hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert” North Korea, according to the state-run news agency KCNA.
Kim was born Kim Sang Dok, but goes by his American name, Tony. He studied at Aurora University in Illinois and the University of California, Riverside, according to his Facebook page.
Prior to his arrest, Kim spent a month teaching accounting at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the university’s chancellor, Chan-Mo Park, told The New York Times.
“The cause of his arrest is not known but some officials at PUST told me his arrest was not related to his work at PUST,” Park told Reuters. “He had been involved with some other activities outside PUST such as helping an orphanage.”
Last month, an unidentified PUST official told Reuters that Kim’s wife had returned to the United States, but The New York Times reports that she is still believed to be in North Korea.
Kim Hak-songKim Hak-song, who also worked at PUST, was detained two weeks after Tony Kim. He was arrested on a China-bound train from Pyongyang and is also being held for committing “hostile acts.” It’s unclear if the two arrests are connected.
Kim reportedly studied at a university in California and became a U.S. citizen in the 2000s before moving back to China, where he was born, 10 years later.
Prior to his arrest, Kim managed the experimental farm at PUST’s college of agriculture and life sciences, Park told Reuters. He was concerned about North Korea’s food shortage and wanted to improve the country’s agricultural economy, CNN reported.
“North Korea is persecuting their savior, a person who came to help them,” David Lee, one of Kim’s former classmates, told CNN. “This is wrong.”type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=594834d4e4b0cddbb008ccff
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 10 hours ago.
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Mother of Aurora stabbing victim struggles to cope with loss, wants justice
Brenda Wallenstrom came to the Adams County Justice Center on Tuesday expecting to hear the man charged in her son's death enter a plea. Instead Chief District Judge Patrick Murphy rescheduled the hearing until July 20 to allow time for doctors retained by Jose Lozoya's defense to complete a battery of neurological and psychological testing.
Reported by Denver Post 6 hours ago.
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Aurora congregation donates St. Matthew’s church, land to new nonprofit refugee center
St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Aurora is the new home of the Village Exchange Center, which will provide a multi-faith place of worship for the community and welcome refugees and immigrants.
Reported by Denver Post 5 hours ago.
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The Aurora’s ‘Confident linguistic environment’
Revolution might be thundering away outside the mansion in which Aurora Theatre Company’s “Splendour” is set, but inside, as four women wait in vain for a dictator to return, Abi Morgan’s language makes for a crisp, evocative and finely wrought world. The script seems to be written in fragments even when its characters speak in complete sentences, each word communicating reams, almost like poetry. To watch them reckon, or not, with a regime and their powerless complicity in it is to see in microcosm how a whole society aids and abets atrocity.
Reported by SFGate 5 hours ago.
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Kids flock to Aurora’s free Summer in the City activities
Aurora has been refining Summer in the City. Now, the event draws hundreds of families. and the city is using the growing popularity to provide more free recreation activities and instruction to kids in an effort to sample out its many recreation programs, clubs and camps.
Reported by Denver Post 5 hours ago.
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